MoROCKo Part 2: In Hour You Be Laughing

Chelsea and I practically ran off of the bus that was still trying to park in the bus station (AKA a big patch of dirt) and there were so many people trying to get us to go to their trusty cousin's ryad in town but we pulled away and started walking. To where...we weren't sure...but we had arrived! With Chelsea's map we started walking down main avenues and then this kid came up to us and was like...woah, haven't seen any Americans yet. The only liquor store in town is just down the street the other way FYI. And with that, he was the last American form of contact we would really have the entire trip. Glad to know he had his priorities straight too. They teach us well.
We made it into the Medina (the great walls that inside have all the twisty turvy alleyways and the souks) and we actually found the restaurant Taro's recommended in Chelsea's book first so we stopped there to eat since we were famished.
It was great to regroup and enjoy the scenery and eat our first bit of chicken tangine and shortly afterward we began our walk into the Medina to find our ryad.
Wow. What a pleasant surprise when we walked in. It was absolutely magnificent inside. A truly hidden gem. We were shown our rooms and showered up and by the time we headed out we started walking along the beach to ride our camels at sunset. Of course it was the one hippie dude on the beach stopping us to buy his hash cookies...I really did think about it for a minute but I knew not to trust those that you could trust in Morocco.
We stopped for a quick cup of coffee and just as soon as the camel handlers were going to pack up for the day we ran over and got the last ride. It couldn't have been better timing and I appropriately got on the camel named "Cappuccino" which I had just gotten done drinking. Match made in heaven really. The sun seemed to set perfectly between this split in this island in the distance...truly magical. We even got to see Jimi Hendrix' old mansion on the beach and "The Castles Made of Sand" that he supposedly wrote about in Essaouira. Cool.
By the time we got back to our ryad Kathleen and Dawn were waiting for us and we ate at a typical Moroccan restaurant to commemorate our first day in Morocco. We packed it in shortly after to get a full day.
Since Kat and Dawn had missed the camel trek they did that first thing in the morning while Chelsea and I went walking around the port area and tried to see a fish auction go down. We met up for lunch at the seaside to haggle for our meal that was literally prepared right in front of our eyes. It was a once in a lifetime experience for sure. We did a little souk shopping and bought some typical clothing and some souvenirs and went to the old fort to take some pretty pics and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to the coast only to head back to Marrakech.
I had told Kat to take Supratours and so they went to their nice bus station which was only for Supratours while we headed to the "bus station" in town and with our tickets in our hands were looking around and we don't see the name of the bus anywhere...so we walk inside and Chelsea decides to go to the front counter for departures to Marrakech while I decide to go to the police station in the bus station. In the worst attempt at French ever I explained I didn't know French (I'm sure I didn't need to tell him that) and that I spoke English. I think I asked him where the bus was departing that was on my slip and he took it from me and told me to follow him to the Marrakech departure stand and exchanged a few words with the guy behind the booth and he shortly thereafter wrote us two new tickets at no extra cost!!!!
One we were really excited because we would get on the bus bound for Marrakech and two we had been duped by the first guy in Marrakech. I hope hes happy with my 6 euros. So we run to the bus which is practically pulling out and what do you know...we are sitting in the back with a bunch of teenagers. These two behind us started off really funny but then it grew annoying. The one would recite every word he knew in English, "Hello my name is Abdul. What is your name? Would you like a cup of coffee? No, maybe later. What is your phone number? My phone number is 83515313..." Haha. No.
Then we asked his buddy to switch seats so he could now sit behind me. Chelsea leans over and was like, "don't freak out but hes been touching my back for the past 30 minutes...he going to try to mess with you but don't acknowledge it." I think its safe to say that I will definitely acknowledge that behavior.
I was prepared though and leaned forward so he couldn't touch me. Yeah right. He had like extend-able fingers and was like stroking my back and I slammed backward but he still continued. I moved forward again but he was digging his fingers into my back. I threw my bag of souvenirs crushing his fingers and he jumped back surprised and he stopped soon after. But the English taunting didn't stop. "No. Stop it. Don't touch me. Stop screaming." I have no idea where he learned those words and I didn't want to know either.
We had finally made it back to the sketchy bus station in Marrakech and we saw a petite taxi parked and told him that we had 20 dirham if he could take us to our hotel. He pretended that he didn't know the name of it I'm sure and just said no. So we crossed the street to this big hotel and there was a map of the city and lucky for us it was really close so we started our walk to the place just outside of the center and got there really tired, hungry and dirty.

MoROCKo Part 1: Couscous Kachoo

Where do I start!?!

Having my partner in crime, Chelsea Hamashin, come visit me was such a blast!!! She got here May 5th, just as soon as the month of Fería in Córdoba was kicking off (so much to do!) As soon as she arrived we were literally out the door exploring the Judería (the Jewery) to see the public patios with the beautifully decorated...well, patios. We walked around and saw the Mezquita, La Correderra, etc. and called it an early night since she was pretty exhausted.
The next day we explored a bit more and then we met up with my friends Jackie and Caitlyn to go the ¨wine tasting¨. It was anything BUT that. They have this ticket system for all of their events, very much like the fairs at home if you want to go on the rides. We bought 10 tickets between us, thinking we would only sample 5 types of wine and maybe buy a bottle because the prices were generous.
I was not aware that out of the 100 casetas (tents) that they would all be this distinct (in my opinion...nasty) white wine, called ¨vino fino¨. Lets just say by the end of the night I couldn´t tell you my name, I will never show my face on Vial Norte again, and I have no clue how we managed to get in a taxi and me tell where I live because I know Chelsea couldn´t help because she doesn´t speak a word of Spanish.
I woke up the next morning hating myself. I have only had one beer since 3 weeks ago. Me being a bad hostess and Chelsea being a good sport set off to the farmacía to buy me some meds since I was absolutely disgusting with my smokers cough (apparently I´m allergic to the olive trees here in Spain..get to that later) and she brought back the nastiest medicine ever. I had to plug my nose to swallow it and it was just fatal. Looking back, I probably should have been consistent with taking it.
Anyway, by the time I had motivated myself to get out of the apartment a lot of our afternoon was lost and we headed out to get a bite to eat since Chelsea managed to eat everything in the apartment the night before. Jackie saw us off before we took our 5 hour bus ride to Madrid. I was really looking forward to this...we thought we were going to be up all night in Madrid going to a seedy Sevillana bar listening to music and enjoying cheap beer and wine until we had to catch the metro to the airport because our flight left at 6:30 in the morning.
However, come to find out the metro closes at 2 AM and re-opens at 6. Problem #1. We were clear across town when we found out. Problem #2. It was 1:50 AM when we found out. Problem OH SHIT. So we ran down to the closest metro stop and took it as far as we could before it shut down for the evening (I thought Madrid was the "town that never sleeps"...no, thats NYC. Don't label yourself with that motto unless you stick to it). We got off at Avenida America because it seemed promising. Boy, that was not right at all. There was a lone cabbie chilling outside chain smoking and looked sad for us. We eventually convinced ourselves that this was in fact the night that we had not planned and gave up around 2:30 and made our way to the airport. 23 euros later we had arrived to the airport.
Apparently everyone had our problem because there were many people sleeping in the fetal position scattered around the airport. It looked like a war zone with luggage and zombies. Then I realized...I forgot my boarding pass, which was on my bed at home. It costs 40 euros for Ryan Air to print you out a boarding pass and I was really stoked when I found that out. Well, 6 AM arrives and I'm first in line to check-in at the Marrakech counter and I go up to the lady and in Spanish I explain what an idiot I am for forgetting my boarding pass and she was really sympathetic but she told me that I had to go wait in line at the RyanAir counter to pay for the boarding pass and I walked off feeling defeated and pissed because now I had to use the 40 euros I was going to spend on my train ticket home (2 hour trip) and now have to buy the bus ticket home (5 hour trip). So we're standing in this line and it hasn't moved in 30 minutes and its insane now because flights are getting canceled due to this ash cloud and I'm thinking we won't even make the flight because of me and all of a sudden this little woman is walking around saying, "Alejandra Warenik"!??? And I was like, "sí, yo" and she explained that her associate had printed out my boarding pass and I could continue to my gate. I almost kissed the woman and was jumping up and down! We were off to a great start!
As soon as we got on the plane...well, I don't remember much after that. We passed out the 3 hour plane ride and shortly had arrived in Marrakech! We made it to the great and vast continent of Africa!!!!! It sounds so cool.
First things first was getting to the bus station to buy our tickets to the coastal town of Esssaouria. Want to know the sketchiest place in all of Morocco? The bus station. Clearly. We thought the only dependable bus company was Supratours so we walk in and we are looking for it, right? Well...its nowhere to be seen and this guy comes up to us and is hustling. He was like, "headed to Essaouira!?" and we turn to each other...how did he know? "No, were looking for Supratours". "You won't find it here, its at the train station (that makes sense). You will be wasting your time. The next bus leaves at 2PM and I've got a bus bound for Essaouira in 15 minutes and it will get you there by 12PM." We didn't know whether to believe him or not but we only had 5 minutes to figure it out. It was unanimous. "Okay. 2 tickets to Essaouira." He managed to get round-trip tickets out of us for 120 dirham (12 euros round-trip). WOW!
Well, we realized this was going to be an uncomfortable trip as soon as we got on. I've never smelled so many foul people together at the same time and so many creepy men coming on and off the bus all at once. We were supposed to leave at 8:45 and probably didn't pull out until 9:30 because of blind men begging, men preaching from the Koran, men selling food, etc. Even while we were moving people were continually jumping on and off the bus. Weird.
So we made the bus ride end quickly by passing out for most of the 3 hour bus ride. Around 12 we had finally arrived in Essaouira! It had a completely different vibe from the second we pulled in.

Pursuit of Happiness

I'm applying for the Peace Corps this time around...for real.

I'm getting a lot of heat from my mother about returning to life in Florida and its scaring the crap out of me right now to be honest.

The Peace Corps isn't a crutch for me, believe you me. I just don't know what is awaiting me at home.

I just want to be like my nomadic ancestors.

Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See Them

Last Sunday I went for a run and I began my warm-up walk through Figeroa and as I'm in my 3rd minute I look down at my watch and all of a sudden I felt this smack in the middle of my butt and out of reaction I put my left arm out and grab whatever the material is and this LITTLE BASTARD goes flying off his bike.

I threw him onto the floor and started yelling at him to never touch me again and that I would make his life a living hell if he ever tried anything like that again. All in English of course.

I didn't know if he was more scared because he knew he had done wrong or because he had no clue what I was saying. He didn't need to know English to get the hint though.

I felt like I had done all women a favor that day for all the times you ever feel inappropriately touched and you turn around to smack them in the face but they are either gone or its too big of a crowd.

The Ugly Truth

Today while walking into Sfera a little girl blocked me from getting into one of the doorways but Jackie got in Scott free. I told the girl in Spanish, "I don't know the password" and I tried to walk by her but she wouldn't let me in. She looked at me and with a frown said, "tienes una cara malapinta". This means, "you have a sketchy face".

I guess she knows me better than I know myself.

Ios & Athens

So Ben gets us to the town and we realize quickly it is super small. If you blink you might have missed it. The view was awesome from the hostel patio, and the tiny town was barely lit.

We got showered and ready to go by 10. We met 3 girls staying there as well: Nicole, Amy and Gina (NAG) and went to Fun Pub for a few beers, watch pool and play a stressful game of Jenga.

Laura and I split a chicken gyro for 2.50 (holler!) so we were feeling full and then went to Stella's for a millasec then went to Flames. It sucked but they were playing American music and we were greeted with shots (tequila...yuck) que asco. Laura and Jackie dipped and I should've too because of O'Clarkie (Charlie, Dingle Prick...) club promoter actually undid my bra right in the middle of the freakin' bar! I ran out of there completely freaked out and found my way safely back to the hostel.

Foggy...got up ready to start the day around 10. Ben was chatting away and met a Cali guy working on cruise ships, Phillip. We talked about crazy nights in Ios and the people that came to visit and Ben was especially fond of his "feral" stories too disgusting to mention.
Completely over the conversation we set off for one last day on the beach and took many, many shortcuts and followed a dog (appropriately named Andy...courtesy of Jackie) who led us astray and then dying of dehydration stopped at a little restaurant.

Its not cool at all to sing, "I'm on a boat" because being on a boat makes me want to vomit. Its only cool if its your boat, and your boat is a yacht and T-Pain is on your boat. Then you know you've made it.

After our meals we left for the beach and FINALLY found the "shortcut" (never take anything "short" in Europe) and took a steep hill to the bottom. We literally laid out for 20 minutes because the wind was throwing around weird sea wood and we decided to throw in the proverbial towel. The walk back was a little horrifying seeing as my legs were still on fire from the climb back to Fira and the volcano trek and now now I was hungover. So slow and steady wins the race and we began our trek back up to Ios. Once we got in we noticed that like the Spaniards they like their siestas so it was a ghost town except for the one restaurant in the center.

We decided to go back to the hostel to enjoy the view once more, relax a little and read up on Athens. Ben started chatting us up again about feral stories and we met a couple more backpackers. Ben tried to convince us to stay one more night but we were eager to experience Athens (oops, our bad). Ugh.

So we got on a bigger version of the Flying Cat and as soon as I decided to change out of beach wear of course were shifting around the ocean and I think I may pass out...standing up in the bathroom changing.

I like that the Greeks respect films in their original language and we got to see a bit of Erin Brokovich on the way into Piraeus. Around 10:30 we landed and we had directions how to get to the hostel. Easy. Or so we though. Tightly gripping our bags on the street we set ouf for the metro. Quite interesting there. You either pay the 1 euro or risk getting caught not paying and being charged 60 times the ticket. Its so easy to sneak through because at some stops you don't need to scan your ticket for entry.

It turned out that random stops on our line were closed so we got herded around like sheep from one bus to another to another metro until we finally arrived at Victoria Station. Laura and I wanted to make sure we were at someplace cheap but not by prostitutes and drugs. At midnight its unavoidable in Athens or broad daylight for that matter really.

The Victoria Square had great restaurants still open (lucky us because it was feeding time) and then an open square of the creepiest immigrants you have ever laid your eyes on..hissing at you saying shit in their foreign creepy voices. Hold on, let me drop my pants right now for you.

We ran to the hostel, dropped off our stuff and booked it back to a restaurant for dinner (we truly are on Spanish time) and then returned around 1 AM and passed out.

At 8 we welcomed the day, hopped on the metro to the Acropolis and instead of paying for anything historic we used our NIE's to get us in for free (I will be milking the student discounts for as long as I can pull it off). The Acropolis was cool and every historic site had some story but most were just a pile of rubble where something great once stood. The Greeks had no idea that their great civilization would ever come to an end, be filled with transients selling table cloths, plastic tomatoes that if you throw on the ground give a smashed effect or Japanese parasols (we need to get those guys better inventory, or they will never sell anything!) or dogs looking dead just lying in random parts of the city (and I mean...EVERYWHERE). Everything historic closed by 2:30 so we got a quick bite then went through the Athens Flea Market which housed a lot of camo and gun stuff (are Athenians packing a lot of heat?!)

Walking away in search of an H&M or Zara we clearly walked the forbidden route. There was the meat district which was 1.5 miles long filled with very dead animals and their completely gutted with their parts getting butchered after already being butchered. Laura and I ran out..the smell and scenery was....... feral. Next door was the fish market and well, you can forget about that...then we rounded the corner and people were selling random crap like bathroom mats, neon workers jackets, batteries, more rubber tomatoes and Jackie all of a sudden had a stage 2 emergency so we ran into Goody's. Baddy for us.

Never in my life would I have expected such a disgusting restroom. Men and women were sharing the bathroom and a shim was smoking a cigarette and then stood with her feet facing the toilet and then I decided I would wait outside.

We checked out a pet store - all the cases were open...pigeons were for sale. walked down the street a bit more - witnessed a drug deal, got hissed at a bit more and then we all agreed Athens sucked. We didn't stay out much longer and by 6 we were back in our hostel praying we'd be back in Spain soon. At 9 we wandered out to our same spot in the cutre square, got dinner and the waiters literally blocked off the guys that come to your table interrupting your meal to sell you crap.

These guys had better inventory than the ones with the rubber balls and parasols - Mr. Bean lighters, bootleg movies and cologne. We were reserving our last change for ice cream for the walk back.

The next morning we hauled ourselves to the Larissa train station and got on the train bound for the airport, or so we thought I think if you don't speak English you are screwed. Jackie pointed out an airport sign in the other direction and started to panic when multiple people were now saying that we were going the other way and that at the next stop the train only comes every hour. We jumped out and the train luckily came within 15 minutes and then jumped on the train bound for the airport (OK...the guy we purchased our tickets from neglected to tell us you have to go backward to only go forward. That makes so much sense!) and by 12:30 we were at the busy airport. I paid 6 euros for a pizza (slice) with no cheese on it at Sbarro (outrageous). Can't wait to be back in Spain. I realize that after every trip I can't wait to be back in Spain because of how cheap everything is.

I'm also glad I got the Ave train back to Cordoba because I'm sure I would've wanted to kill myself if we had to take the 1 AM bus in.

Home sweet home.

Sunsets in Santorini

He drove us to Kafieris on the Cliff and Nadja (not her name) greeted us. The place was nice and the view was rewarding. Absolutely gorgeous in fact. We were starved so we looked around and Laura spotted "Mama's", I had actually read it was good and boy it was! She was hilarious too. "U.S....best fucking country in the world!" she exclaimed. Then she turned to her other table..."Singapore, best fucking airport in the world!" Then stated, "I don't give a shit, I do what I want". Clearly Mama. We finally had the stuffed tomatoes and I ate a traditional dish sort of like shepherds pie. delish but rich. Then we topped off the night with some ice cream.

We got up early and Mama had told us to pay no more than 25 euros for a car and checked a couple places but none would come down from 30 euros so we agreed and then began our drive to the Read Beach. The beach was absolutely stunning and it was quite the marvel. We tried to go to the Ancient ruins at Akrotiri but of course they were closed?

We then went to the lighthouse at the tip of the island (which apparently has the best sunset...not Oia...) and got great shots and I felt like I was at the edge of the world from there. We then went to Kamari, a black sand beach and bronzed a little then drove to Perissa and walked the boardwalk for a bit then stopped for some girly cocktails and a great view of the desolate beach. Next on our list was one more beach to lay out on and then we began the drive to the other side of the island to see the sunset in Oia.

We got our seats an hour before and waited for the show to start. It really was beautiful. My camera couldn't even capture how cool the colors were and how the town shined when the sun hit it. It was more like a painting. We ran back to town to drop off the car in the nick of time and quickly changed clothes and then grabbed a bit to eat. We settled for this nice restaurant and we shared an appetizer of stuffed peppers (yum!) and I got a chef salad. After dinner we checked the internet at the restaurant (not weird at all) and went back to our place to read Cosmo! tops all night (ballin' on a budget). We got up that next morning and decided to check out the town of Fira.

We rode the donkeys down to the old pier and we noticed all of these ships with a lot of Americans on them. They were leaving for a volcano tour so we hopped on too! We explored 5 volcano sites and they took us to a hot spring which was actually freezing. I was feeling broke after that decision and decided to walk up the way we came by donkey while Jackie opted for the cable car (smart girl). Bad idea Alex. I was sweating like a whore on nickel night. I was breathing in donkey crap and couldn't feel my legs. 590 steps later Laura and I arrived slightly proud of ourselves.

We saw Danielle and Michelle again at a restaurant for lunch and they joined us and we had one last hoorah. We headed back to the hostel for our ride to the port 2 hours early. Ha.

We sat down at an outdoors restaurant just wanting bottles of water and the waitress came over saying that we couldn't just order water. I felt like I was back in the US. Jackie sweetly replied, "I hope somebody f****s you in your whore mouth". Five minutes later.

At 6 we got on our slow boat (yay, smooth sailing!) bound for Ios and got to see a beautiful sunset just as soon as we were docking. Ben was there to greet us. A guy about our age and we were glad because we had begun to notice it was the cutres (creeps) that were the hostel/hotel chauffeurs.

All My Friends Are The Ones I Chose

If I hear them knocking...I can't refuse. We'll face the winds and break the strongest of trees.

There was a knock on my door. It had been the conversation I had been fearing the entire day. I said, "yeah?". I wasn't going to back down in how I felt. As soon as the door squeaked open I could feel the tears roll down my cheeks. I broke down faster than I imagined.

Life has been different. Clearly different. I made decisions that I'm not particularly happy with but nonetheless I made them, its too late to go back. And thats just it isn't it? There is no going back, you can only move forward.

I kept bringing up the past. I'm not a good speaker. I'm not good at clearly explaining myself especially when the other person has a valid point and then I'm left stupefied. We agreed we had gone too long in silence. We agreed both parties were at fault. We agreed we needed to do something about it. And we will. We agreed it was poor communication. Its always the latter isn't it? We agreed we felt each other was slipping. I secretly knew it was just me.

I started closing myself out to the world. Hiding in my sacred space. Access, denied. I don't want it to be like this when life has its normalcy once again.

I'm not the victim; I just don't want to be wrong all the time. I just want to be understood.

I know I have a true and lasting friendship. I will not lose it. Not like this.

Greece-Bound Airports & Mykonos

March 25th:

I got on the bus bound for Madrid at 8 this morning. I got to sleep for a couple more hours and I was hoping that the movie they would play on the bus wouldn't be dubbed (as I've realized all they play in Spain are American films...just with Spanish accents. Martin Lawrence sounds ridiculous). Anyway, as fate would have it, they played an American film in English with subtitles (A FIRST!). It was corny and I had never heard of it but nonetheless pleased.

Got into the bus station around 1 and with the trusty directions Laura had written for me and my worn map of the metro, I began my journey to the airport.

I started on the grey line and got off at Avenida de America and from there had to transfer to the burnt orange line (4) going to Mar de Cristal and I told myself earlier that I wouldn't mess up line 7 with 4 (7 is orange and 4 is that damn burnt orange color) but I did anyway. I had to backtrack through the 7th circle of hell, which is the underworld, that is the Metro system and finally got on. I got off Mar de Cristal only to not follow the blatantly obvious arrows everywhere telling me which train would take me to the airport. As Heather says from time to time...you could be sent to the beach and if asked for sand you'd come back empty-handed (well, she says that to Andres; but I feel you too buddy).

So I eventrually make it down there and I'm on the train now and I notice I need a "supplementary fare" ticket to the airport (oh, yeah...Laura mentioned a 2 euro fee...but I only bought the ticket for the ride). Instead of being intelligent and waiting until I got to Terminal 1, I got off at the futbol stadium exit and then ended up using my metro travel pas up and had to buy a new one to get back into the metro and then buy the airport fair. Yeesh, I even shock myself sometimes in how I'm such a tonta (silly girl).

I got myself situated. Checked in and the lady at Lufthansa proceeded to talk to me in English but I just spoke to her in Spanish and ya esta. I've come a long way since September. Alex: 1. Spain: 0. Finally got on the plane at 5 and headed for Frankfort and as soon as I got on I passed out. I woke up around 5:30 to the smell of delicious food and the stewardess (is that politically correct?) asked if I wanted food and I looked at her and dead-serious asked if it was free and she just laughed at me. So naturally, I obliged. I was just in shock because on most flights I've been on while in Europe charge you if you want water. Lufthansa is the shit! I got hot meal and cup of coffee for only a 3 hour flight. Apparently first-class gets a 4 course meal; thats ridiculous.

Greece is upon the horizon!

How do you spot an American? They have Vera Bradley bags; and a lot of them. I think in groups they coordinate which printed bag they'll have so there are no repeats.

A German version of Shape magazine is 2.80 euros. The original in English is 10 euros.

I can't even attempt to try and pull the little German I know out of my my ace; everyone speaks English here. Do I hve a sign on my forehead that says "foreigner"? Before I asked for a kaffee, I got, "hello, how can I help you?" Pretty sweet.

We Americans and Brits aren't arrogant or lazy...were just misunderstood. Everyone in Europe must know multiple languages in order to advance, we do not.

I'm so claustrophobic on this effing flight to Athens. A large German woman to my left is definitely in my personal space and shes so close that I can fill out her sudoku puzzle. The plane people keep hitting me with the carts and the jerk in front slams his chair so hard it hits me in the face and now he is acting like he is having seizures and I can say the same about the guy behind me too. Eek! In other news...one hour left until Greece! Oh, and tortellini for dinner with a chocolate bar for dessert. Can't wait for that bikini!

So as soon as I got off the plane and picked up my bag I saw Laura and Jackie. We went to the kiosk and picked up our bus tickets and got on the X96 (which why pay because no one even validated the damn 3.20 euro tickets). After an hour of being I'm sure obnoxious doing Bon Qui Qui impressions we get dropped off by the port. There was a cutre taxi driver waiting and asks us where we need to go and then he tells us 12 euros. I quickly accept like a tonta (Jackie and Laura wanted to kill me) and he drives us there in a circle just for kicks and we get there 5 minutes later. Only to discover our hostel was in plain sight of where the stop was. Eff.

We get in, not awesome at all but its a place to crash for 2 hours. We get up and shower and don't really sleep because Jackie had crazy nasal issues.

We get up at 5:30 and walk to Pireaus in 10 minutes and pick up our tickets for Mykonos and get aboard the ship at 7:00 and after a coffee and muffin to help the Dramamine go down better we passed out for the better part of the 4.5 hours trip.

We were greeted by a man with a sign that read "Kymata" and he was super chatty, we will call him Tito. He was quickly pointing out landmarks and sights important and lost on us. I was trying to take it all in. It was completely mesmerizing and gorgeous. the homes were all white and the windows mostly some type of blue.

We finally had arrived and when we got out of the van before us stood the town of Mykonos below us and to our left were the windmills. We dropped off our luggage and began exploring the old town. It had narrow streets, scattered tiny churches big enough for only the Orthodox priest and was so windy! Little Venice was right on the water and had good spots for the sunsets and if you walked along the edge a bit more you arrived to the old port that had some cute restaurants looking down onto the water. We stopped by an "authentic" Greek restaurant for fried zucchini, rice stuffed grape leaves for lunch and had yogurt with walnuts and honey for dessert (yum!).

Then we went to Passos Doble for drinks a little later and after being there for 5 minutes a man came sauntering in. He had a crazy salt-and-pepper Bozo the clown set of locks, Canadian tuxedo with an unidentified woman sketched on the back of his jeans jacket , a Corona in one hand and a lily in the other. He looked crazy but harmless, like the Mad Hatter. He had music on but was singing along to Moby "we are all made of stars" beign played in the bar throwing around the top of a water bottle cap. He started chatting Jackie up and she started psycho-analyzing him. He said his favorite number was 5 and pointed out the number of buds on his flower and then called her a closed flower and said that he was an open flower. His name was Captain Markos (with a K...important). May I also tell you that we were "living in his world"...clearly.

Laura was begining to feel a little sick so we left and Jackie and I went out for groceries in the town. Damn! Hefty prices. We walked out with meager resources for 24 euros...ugh. The town was slowly coming alive at this time though, there were many people out. Quite the contrast from the ghost town we had witnessed earlier before.

Jackie and I went out for dinner 3 doors down from the bar we went to earlier and ate at this little place called Suisse. It was fairly priced compared to other places. I got the caprese sandwich and the friendly woman chatted us up. She was so sweet and we had the best seat in the place. this little enclave with a seashell chandelier and land of pillows. Jackie noticed these kids from lunch we had met earlier and they told us to come out since it was their last night on the island...they made a compelling argument so we agreed.

We went back to check on Laura and she got it together to get out: we also thought we could squeeze free drinks out of these guys . Well we went to the bar from earlier and who should walk in there but Markos. except he was zigzagging more than earlier and began conducting in the middle of the bar. He left after lighting his cigarette with a tea light and we knew it wouldn't get more exciting there so we left shortly after him. We went to another bar down the road and a woman approached us saying, "you are not wearing flip flops". Claro mujer. As soon as we found out a Corona and Bud Light was 10 euros....we dipped. We went to a bar with live music but sat out in the freezing cold because it was so loud and all of a sudden Markos stumbled in. He had a glass of water and was rocking out to the music in his head. He held good conversation in English for being so belligerent and lit a cigarette with his already lit cigarette and sucked down the first on so he could smoke the second. Jackie said, "you should smoke less hash and drink more water". He replied, "I'm just going to get more". Then when asked the age old question, "What is life Markos?". "Well, life is about having a good time". Can't argue that. And with that he was off into the night and we called it an early one too. No, we never found those kids.

The next day we went into town and rented a car. "You have license?" "Yes." "Know how to drive good?" "Yes." "Okay, fill up how you see it and see you in 24 hours." And with that we relied on the poorly directed map in the glove, our keen sense of directions and signs in Greek and Jackie trying to decode it from her sorority days.

We took off looking for the first beach we could find. We drove all around the island (not big...did it in a few hours). the towns were few and scattered and I needed to be slapped because I couldn't believe we were actually there). The Greek club music filled our car and hearts. We ended in the town of Ornos and found our first beach with life (and I mean 4 people laying out). Aside from cutre workers building stuff by us we were feeling pretty desolate. It was a cute town, but super small. We quickly made it back to see the sunset by the windmills. This couple sitting in front of us had white gloves on and it was truly bizarre. The sunset was gorgeous after that we returned the car and I swear each time we saw that woman she was always stuffing her face with some food.

We returned to our place and got showered and ready to go out to eat. Naturally we went to Suisse for some food on the cheap, great service and even better atmosphere. Had a delish Greek salad and caprese crepe and finished off with a dessert sampler of baklava, lemon cake and some chocolate thing. We went back to our room and spent the night in. Mykonos was too expensive at night. The next morning we woke up at 9:30 to start packing because Tito was melting us at 10:30 to pick our bags up. He knocked at 10:00 (early?) and we were not anywhere near done. "Uh. I don't know if you realized but there is a time change." We did know...but we can't get it together! He came back and we threw our stuff in his van. With a few hours remaining we just walked the town and got to see the Palm Sunday procession, bought some homemade jewelry from an old woman who was quite the hustler. We walked out to the old port and it was packed with people and who but who should show up...Markos! His crazy-ass was staggering down the road conducting music and enjoying himself. I had hoped we'd get to see him one more time. After recording him for a bit we stopped and kicked these 2 girls out of their photo shoot with the pink pelican and got around the corner we stopped for a nice lunch at a quiet restaurant that had a peek of the ocean in the distance. It was time to meet Tito to collect our bags at the old port and we got there, said our goodbyes then lounged at the top of the sun. We left to get a drink only to come back and see our tanning sport had been taken by 2 girls. I wanted to be up there too so we plopped ourselves in our original spots and not to be rude we started talking and they ended up being these 2 really sweet Loyola students studying at New Castle and were on Spring Break named Danielle and Michelle.

Then we met a girl working in Murcia. After waiting an hour for our late boat the Flying Cat 4 finally arrived. We got on and instantly we were sick. We literally were flying and it was the grossest 45 minutes of my life. Once we got on land again we said our goodbyes and looked for our sign. Jackie turned and said, "Man, Hamlin Hotel sounds really cool!" (Hamlin is her last name). Uh, thats us...

Shoot For The Stars, I Land On The Moon

So on Tuesday the girls and I went to soccer practice and we leveled with Oscar the Grouch. We told him that we couldn't be committed to the team because we had 2 jobs a piece and that they didn't even really need us for games (lets face it -- he has his team and he doesn't even play us). So he seemed cool with it and then asked us if we were going to the game in Malaga, I told him it wasn't happening for me this weekend for sure. So did Heather and Laura. Well Thursday he calls and says that practice was canceled even though I was looking forward to it. I had such a great practice on Tuesday and I think it was because I had absolutely no pressure when I went on the field knowing that I would be competing for a spot to play on the weekends game. So Heather and I got ready and went to Rocio's piso to botellon before going out with Laura and met up with Jackie there. It was a lot of fun and I was so stoked that Heather wanted to get all dolled up with us girls and go out for a bit. We let for Vial Norte a little after 12 and we were crossing the street to where all the discos were and this club promoter Pedro for MoMa comes up to us and gives us 3 passes for 4 euro copas. Jackie and I insist that we can go to Theatre for our free shots AND free copas. He said, "Oh, is that what you want? A free chupito?" And we were like..."Listen, were headed to Theatre to see our friend Rafa." Heather grabs the 3 tickets and said, "We'll just take these because you're cute" and Pedro replies, "Listen, if you stay at my club I'll get you free drinks". HAH! And only looking at Heather the entire time we were negotiating. We need her to come out with us more often :) Just kidding.

So we go into MoMa and it is dead. But who do we see? Rocio and company who we thought were going to be in Theatre. So were pretty much the only people dancing around for about an hour and we make the executive decision to move on to Theatre and run into our buddy Rafa who of course hooks it up with our free drinks. We make moves in and I instantly am loving it like usual. Its packed. Its hot and blasting some great music. Heather and I were dancing, and she was showing her moves. Shes so cute lol. Jackie was a little bit of a hippy earlier in the night and mixed that with wine so she was a little wear for the worse by the time we got to Theatre and she needed to be put to bed so we left around 2. Heather and I were a bit bummed because the music was getting better, but alas....

The next day it seemed to go rather quickly and Laura and I went into town to go to the tanning bed and start a base coat. I have to go back because I only went in for 6 minutes but could definitely go a bit longer than that. I need to prep for Greece! My color is a soft shade of purple when I'm cold, and its a bit disturbing.

Around 4:30 I ventured to a new part of town to meet with this woman Beatriz for a job opportunity two nights a week beginning in April to work with little kids. She was sweet and I know its going to be hard work but I'll look forward to it for the next two months. Money is money after all. Then I made the decision that I wasn't going to soccer practice and I was going to go hangout with Laura and Jackie and go out for tapas instead. Heather was still up for practice and on Friday nights they are a bit far away from where we usually practice behind Zoco so she sent the Grouch a text from my phone asking for a ride or Angel (the manager) his number and all Oscar said was, "No. And Angel is sick." So she toqued him and he called back saying that no one could pick her up and he had to deal with Caballo. Caballo is his ugly and mean girlfriend Estella who is the keeper on the team. She was super nice when we first came to play with the team but as soon as Oscar showed interest in being our friends she got super jealous and just has been unbearable since. Just on Tuesday some of the girls were singing some Spice Girls and she goes, "I'm Mel B." And I said "Perfect! Scary Spice!" Anyway, I call her Caballo because she looks like a horse and she even eats like one too (I have proof). Oscar should know that one can go to jail for bestiality. Sick.

So went to our favorite tapa restaurant in Cordoba off Gran Capitan (cant remember the name....IOU) and had a blast. We just told jokes around the table for a few hours and were getting crazy stares because we were cracking up (and my laugh is VERY distinct for some reason).

Laura asked Jackie and I to come out with her and JWOW for a bit but we ended up leaving around 1:30 because we wanted to get up early for our day trip to Jaen in the next province. I kept getting woken up to Laura and Jwow running around the apartment at an unidentified hour in the morning. I got up at 6:45 and got ready and out the door around 7:30. Right outside of their apartment we saw one dude peeling out of a spot practically hitting the other cars in sight (he was leaving the clubs naturally) and then a pathetically inebriated couple (the woman was HIlarious...she looked like a t-rex in stilettos with a drooping cigarette in her mitts cackling to herself and her man was a sloppy disheveled mess with a goblet in his hand. Have no idea why.)

Jackie and I made it on the train at 8 and were in the city of Jaen by 10 AM. Of course it was FREEZING when we got there and began our journey on el Paseo de Estacion and walked toward the old town of Jaen. We stopped in the supermarket Mas y Mas for some rice cakes, cheese and cured meat for some breakfast and Jackie gave a homeless woman some food along the way. We decided to go down an alley and found a place for a cup of coffee to hide from the cold for a bit and everyone around us was just staring at us as we talked and we eventually said nothing at all because it was really uncomfortable. I guess no one comes to Jaen that speaks English.

We stopped in a little park and ate our breakfast and the old men and women were laughing at us because we looked a bit homeless but I was laughing because we only spent 1.50 euros a piece on breakfast and it was just as tasty and my food did not taste like smoke from the bar we would've eaten it in. So we began our journey and found the famous Catedral of Jaen and we went inside and we were completely disappointed. It was architecturally beautiful on the outside but inside it looked like a cold and grey government building. No feeling whatsoever.

Next stop was the Tourist Information Center for a map of the town and directions for around the town. We went down Calle Martinez Molina (the main-ish drag in historic Jaen) and walked to the Banos Arabes which were SOOO cool! The musuem housed the 12th century baths and they made it possible for us to walk over them on this glass pathway so we could see them. Its remarkable that they were only rediscovered in the 1900's.

So it was only 12 and now we had seen the 2 most popular sights in Jaen and we noticed a castle that looked a little displaced and we went back to the tourist information woman to ask how to get there. She said, its roughly 45 minutes and you can only walk there. So we began our ascent to begin the climb to the top of this mountain (well, I call it a mountain even though it was only 700 meters high. Jackie said a mountain starts at 100 meters high. Ha. I'm a Floridian...we don't even have hills!) Anyway, we looked pretty pathetic walking it and everyone was honking at us while we walked along a busy road to get to the top. It was so peaceful and gorgeous taking in the scenery. I hadn't seen that much green in I can't even remember. The mountains were lined with green forests and olive trees that went on for days.

We finally made it to the top about 45 minutes later! There was a hotel next to the castle and we asked him about where to go do a tour of it and he said, "its closed for reforms" SAY WHAT!?!? He said, "The tourist information people know its closed." SAY WHAT?!?!? Well, we decide whatever...its the most gorgeous day we've seen in 3 months and we just climbed a mini-mountain and now were at a castle...its totally forgivable. Jackie and I climb a little bit of a unmarked trail right next to the castle and sit down and finish whats left of our rice cakes and cheese and just breathe in the spectacular view of the Sierra Morena. WOW. I did not want to leave.

We made it down the mini-mountain in about 20 minutes and wasted no time to go find some grub in the old town at a place in our guide book to Andalucia. It was a super cute old bar called Manchego I think? And it opened its doors in 1886. We had platos combinados. Mine came with an omellete, some potatoes, a salad and flamenquin. I wasn't going to have a beer but I ordered a small one since I decided I deserved it after that climb earlier in the afternoon.

Then we decided that we could make the 5 o'clock train back to Cordoba since we had seen all that Jaen really offered and got there once again, right in the nick of time. I had a mini-siesta of 15 minutes and just enjoyed the scenery and the jams that DJ Jackie had put on. There were also Amy Winehouse wanna-be's in front of us that provided all sorts of entertainment. Does the tacky bandana look good on my head? On my arm? On my waist? Lets sneak another cigarette in the bathroom. Lets play our house music really loud, everyone on the train likes it I'm sure. Haha...the train is always filled with interesting people.

I'm glad we got out of Cordoba for the day and for such a deal, only 16 euros round-trip on the train.

Next weekend I'm going up to Madrid and then taking daytrips to Segovia and Salamanca. No puedo esperar! I can't wait!

After Thoughts

I'm going to challenge myself.

I am going to start training for a half marathon, but give myself plenty of time and sign up for one in the fall and when I return home sign up for some smaller races like 5K's and 10K's.

I Brought An Umbrella Cont...

I just wanted you to know that it is in fact raining again. Thursday things were looking up...but it rained all day on Friday and Saturday. Woohoo.

Jackie was saying that apparently southern Spain is getting the usual weather pattern that England gets and for some reason because of a shift in the atmosphere or something we are getting their rain. I was beginning to wonder why Cordoba was reminding me of when Heather and I went to England back in August. It all makes sense to me now.

Oh, and the plot thickens with Greece. Stuff is getting way out of control over there and I can't believe I will be flying out there at the end of the month. Get your stuff together you crazy Grecians!!! I'm ready to explore your amazing country and you are acting like lunatics (but I understand at the same time...fight the MAN!). Jackie says that in her bucket list it is a wish of hers to be in a riot. Well, dreams really may come true.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/world/europe/25greece.html

I Brought An Umbrella

So today was Day 2 of the cleanse. I am happy to report that I was able to introduce fruits and vegetables into my diet so I didn't have to resort to eating my own arm off. I did the lemon and cayenne pepper concoction and it just made me want to throw up only a little bit this time.

Around 1 PM I motivated myself to get out of my pajama's and made my way to Jacqueline's piso (she actually has a friend over from school) and we decided to play tour guides. We walked around the center of town and then eventually made our way to the Juderia and from there went to the Las Bellas Artes Museo. It was free so I can't complain about that and we got to see three small exhibits of local cordobese artists of the past. A lot of it was the Virgin with Child, the Anunciation, etc. You get the drift, but very enjoyable. It also has one of the nicest patios I've seen in Cordoba; I must go back and get a picture of it.

Then we made our way to the colossal Mezquita which I had never toured before because I never wanted to pay the 8 euros. Jackie told me that Cordoban residents did not have to pay so I was more than thrilled! We got inside and I took control of Jackie's camera and just started shooting away. Jackie was an AMAZING tour guide and explained everything in full detail. I have been to the Mezquita before for mass but never got to tour it in entirety.

Parts of the mosque were so different, including the infamous Muslim arches, to the Byzantine Church influence, and the now, Catholic influences. Jackie said that it used to be an open-aired mosque and then the doors are forever closed and the caliphs used to have a pathway that they could access (in the Muslim days) so that they could pray multiple times a day. Very cool stuff. Oh, and there were caged off sarcophagi all around and the richest families in the Cordoba area pay the church (whats new?) to upkeep and maintain the individual resting places for the dead.

Then we met up with Natasha and took the #9 bus back to Jackie's place off Ponce de Leon. It's so funny how so many places here remind me of Saint Augustine (obviously, a Spanish influenced town). I mean I live in Cordoba, and I used to live off Cordova Street in college.

Jackie made the most delicious meal of grilled red peppers (which taste so heavenly here that I swear they have to be bad for you) and some aubergine (I like that word instead of eggplant) and also some mashed potatoes (sans butter -- I'm cleansing haha). I also made a hummus which was good, but note to self: I don't actually like that much lemon in it...I prefer more garlic. If I could get my hands on some pine nuts/sun-dried tomatoes...I think that would be more up my alley.

-----

So...I regret flipping out on Tori yesterday. I'm really upset with myself actually. I just freaked out after not talking to her for 3 months and I should have just been happy to actually getting to talk to her and having a long conversation with her while she was en-route to Orlando but I just started crying and telling her what a jerk she was for ignoring me and choosing friends above me. I just feel like she doesn't care because of course how could my feelings affect her? Its just aggravating because I miss her so much and she doesn't care. Dad and Tori were together from Wednesday to Thursday night (it was supposed to be until Friday but he left early and he did not tell me...so I'm waiting like a sad puppy by the phone/computer thinking were going to have a skype date together)... So I told her to f*** off (classy, right?) and ended it like that. I shouldn't just be upset with my sister, my Dad is also at fault.

It's not even a big deal and I'm making it one. I just know that the relationship/bond that Tori and I have isn't strong as it is and its just setting in that she wants nothing to do with me now. Three months without communication is so unsettling. But I suppose...only for me. I even told Dad about how I felt so distant from Tori and he made sure we would skype all together...but never did. I'm just hurt. Am I overreacting?

So, I called Tori today and left a message. I don't blame her if she doesn't want to talk to me. I wouldn't want to talk to me either. I just hope she calls when she isn't upset from what I said. I just want to make things right and not have an episode where we don't talk for years...I know we are not close at all and she barely likes me but she is the only sister I have and that is enough for me.

Watching The Sky

Soooooo I learned a few things today.

1. The word for ticklish is: cosquilla(s). For example: Tengo cosquillas = Direct translation: I have the tickles...or correctly = I am ticklish.

2. The Polish teacher assistant that cannot speak English that well so she obviously lied when she applied for the job told me that my last name Warenik is actually as common as Smith is in the USA. And it does not mean potato pancakes...whoever came up with that one?

3. When I do try and summon the rain gods, they in fact do the opposite and it does not rain at all. In fact, it is sunnier than ever and hotter than ever. BRING IT ON! Reverse psychology Mother Nature! Maybe it didn't have anything to do with me taking that umbrella. Awesome!

Movin' On Up

I'm excited to announce that I just purchased my airplane tickets to and from Marrakesh with one of my good gal pals (Chelsea)! I need to talk to my other friend Kathleen who is coming in on the same day as Chelsea, but her situation is a bit more unique. She is coming with her step-mom who needs to see a crazy amount of scenery in only a short span. I know they are planning on going to Italy, Morocco and explore various places in Spain in 10 days!

Anyway, we booked the tickets (which I only have cash right now and nothing on my Spanish bank card so I literally had to use the last of my American money...grrrrr. All the ridiculous charges for using an American card is beyond me) for Wednesday, May 8th - Sunday, May 12th!!! It's going to be hotter than hell but such an adventure! I can't wait to go ziplining, camel trekking, check out the colorful busy open markets and for my Euros to finally go far! --- SOOOO EXCITED!!!

I am looking forward to my trip to Greece at the end of the month as well with Laura and Jackie. Jackie and I did absolutely NOTHING over Puente break other than work on school stuff (presentations, new units, worksheets, etc) and then on the last day during the last hours of light we took the time to book two places for our grand adventure!

The first place will be the first island we travel to: the island of Mykonos

It says its a 10 minute walk to the beach and right in the center of town. Thoroughly looking forward to my first Grecian sunrise and sunset :)

http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/greece/mykonos-island/5379/

This one is the awesome one. Fingers crossed that we get a room that overlooks the water (this place is located right on cliffs!) Apparently the owner is a mean old lady that shuts down the jacuzzi after 8 PM but we decided we would take our chances because you can't beat the view!

http://www.kafierisapartments.gr/

So no new news about the weather here in Cordoba. The rain just does not want to let down. Thank goodness I found a huge paragua (umbrella [or brullie as the Scottish say]) in my apartment building. No, I know it was not kind of me to take the umbrella but it had been pouring about a month ago when I had to leave for work and I panicked because when my first little umbrella broke I had a ceremonial "throw this piece on the ground, kick it around a bit and then throw it in the garbage" and I felt this was justified because the sun began to appear...But to my dismay the rain began up again. So I looked around and it was like a present from the rain gods telling me to take it so I did. I have every intention on returning the umbrella to the same spot right by the mailboxes when the rain decides to stop. Do you think it continues to rain here in Cordoba because of karma? I hope not.

Since I did not do a darn thing this past weekend I have decided to go to Sevilla tomorrow. Although I've been a couple of times I have not played tourist in the town since I arrived back in September. Jackie has her friend from VA visiting so it should be fun. I have some change to spare and a free Friday as well.

Heather told me about a cleanse that she is beginning on Friday and I think I'm going to do it. Its really just what I need...for those of you that get easily offended read no more.

I am so constipated because of the food choices in this country and I need a colon blow or something!

Tori and Dad are supposed to be calling me this weekend to chat. That will be very nice especially considering I haven't spoken to Tori since she left on December 3oth, 2009. Bummed.

I'm really proud of Mom. She is successfully putting together her biggest masterpiece to date: a book!!!! Mom is truly an amazing woman and so creative and enthusiastic, driven and I cannot wait to read what she has written. I hope to be picking up her book in the front of a major retailer, you know...in one of those glass cases in the display window.

Haven't been to soccer practice in 3 weeks because of the rain and in essence laziness probably. Hopefully we will have practice tomorrow if the weather holds up but I'm not making any promises. I think I may have to wake up the rain gods tomorrow after my laundry dries. Once you have 3 weeks off...why stop there!

Well, I'm off to bed!

Catch The Sun

Another weekend coming through and only to depart once more. Sorry dear diary, its been awhile since I last confessed the sordid details of my life here in Spain. Nah, just a broma.

Its been really nice having the apartment to myself so far. I think I've needed some time to myself to reflect or something...I've got a lot on my mind and its been absolutely wandering since we departed 2009.

So, what did I do this weekend so far? I figure I should just talk about something not stressful in my life...

Well, we had practice on Thursday night and its absolutely hilarious to think that half of the girls on the team actually talked more to Myles (Heather's brother) than to me in the month I've been playing with them. Ha! I have to take the high road in that area...I don't know why I let some of those ignorant girls get to me...its just been quite awhile since I had problems with really immature girls. This one girl Estella is just outright rude now. All she does is throw out blatant insults. She should be intimidated. I wouldn't want to mess with myself, Heather or Laura. I don't really want to talk about her though, no sense in letting that ruin the story. I didn't even mean to create a tone...I just wanted to let those feelings out.

Soooo after practice Myles was determined to see what the nightlife here in Cordoba was all about. So he somehow convinces me to come (and I didn't want him to go by himself) so we met up at Laura's piso and from there went to the Irish pub nearby Gran Vial for a drink. Then around 2 we decided to check out MoMa because Caitlyn has the hook-up on drinks from this one guy Sergio that she went out with a couple of times. Alas, he was not there but Laura worked her magic and we didn't have to pay for chupitos. Por favor, I wish I had never taken them (oops...more than one). Their idea of free shots for girls (slutty Erasmus students) are these sugary rummy shots....gnarly headache the next morning for sure. I made our bartender take a shot with us though to make up for giving us something that bad haha...

It was the typical music being played (except I am sorry to report that 'Single Ladies' was not heard once that night which is weird because the weekend before I managed to hear it played in 4 separate bars....que pena). So us three made our way to the other side of the pub because it was just a bunch of creepy guys staring and it was a bit awkward because let me explain the people of Cordoba that go out. They do not dance and they just like showing off the drink that they have bought in their hand. And I was completely taken aback when this woman grabs Laura and I and has us dancing with her girlfriends! And on top of that about 2 of them knew English (que raro!) Well, Myles establishes relations with one of the girls and proceeds to try and get my piso keys (riiiiiiiiight, like I'm going to get screwed out of the equation only to come home and have to buzz my way in at 5 in the morning when the Acosta's are leaving at 6 to catch a bus to Madrid..not kosh). So I wrote down specific directions to the apartment and made him give me some cab money for the cab that we were going to split later (hey, you leave me....you always pay).

UPDATE: Myles did in fact make it home and he was passed out solo (THANK JESUS (pronounced Hey-Zeus) !!!!) and was still in his clubbing clothes.

And in that moment Laura meets the only good-looking guy and hes dancing (BONUS) and we closed that place down around 4 and they got us to go to Underground and it was actually a lot of fun there. They were playing random music like from Rage Against the Machine...I can't help to throw down when their stuff comes on. Laura's new man friend Juan was trying to get me to be with his friend Javi and I just wasn't feeling it...he was too much the same height as me and was too much of a gentleman or something, I don't know. Oh, and when a girl dances with you don't skooch away. It's not an endearing quality, even if you're shy. Shoot, I'm like Prudence McPrude. I don't need competition batting for the other team with the same quality as me.

At 6 I made it back to the piso just as soon as the fam was getting up to leave for their trip to Madrid. Woke up with the spins and was utterly worthless until I decided to get up and go out with Jackie, Caitlyn and Laura (ohhhh and her man friend -- nothing serious for her, she has a boyfriend. And even though she had the 'I have a boyfriend' talk and the dude understand English more or less as they say...he didn't understand novio, or was pretending not too).

So as soon as I got on the bus after hanging with Jackie and Caitlyn, Oscar and his impeccable timing called me right after the girls got off on their stop to tell me that practice was canceled due to rain...ugh. So, I went home and started to get ready for Ana's Birthday celebration (a bit early but its because her real birthday is during the Puente...and no one is really around during Puente). Dinner was supposed to be at 10:30 (so of course I ate another dinner a bit earlier than that) and I tried about 6 banks on the way their to recharge my phone but I had no luck and was completely aggravated because...let's face it, you are naked without your cellular technology. Oh, and when you are trying to figure out where everyone is and you've been in the restaurant waiting for them for 30 minutes and there is no sight of anyone. So after I went to the bottom floor of the restaurant Moriles (or as I so cleverly dubbed it, 'Stand-By') and made a fool of myself (because apparently when you say, 'tienes una fiesta para isabel o ana' that is soooo funny [fiesta over here literally translates to --- woohoo party yea man!!!!! --- when all I meant was reservation]. Well, I walked out and said screw it and started walking about around 11:00 and only to see the birthday girl in the Moriles (stand-by #2) woo!

I met Gema and her boyfriend, saw Manolo (crazy Asturian guy I work with) and Isabel and Juana (Isa's mom) were there and so was Juan (who I haven't really talked to since Thanksgiving when he invited himself to it and then proceeded to insult our American dishes -- what kind of fool thinks that we eat hot dogs, hamburgers and pizza on this delicious holiday??? He's an ignoramus).

I was nodding off during dinner, as I had gotten home at 6 in the morning and woke up at 10 and didn't take my siesta (I really need to take advantage of those more often) but I was somehow convinced to go to this pub right on the corner (which ironically I had asked Laura's man friend what he had thought of it because it looked really cool and he was it was actually the complete opposite and so I told myself that I would not go in there...only to go there a few short hours later ha...por supuesto). Again, I began falling asleep right there on the dance floor and then the DJ played Gloria Gaynor and was kind of weirded out...he was having a disco attack and proceeded to play some more mad old music...obviously he was being selective with a mature age demographic. I never wanted to go to bed more when I got in at 3.

Today, I didn't really want to do much of anything. I got to Jackie and Caitlyn's and I made us some pancakes and it was amazing. I felt like I was at home...I miss Mom's syrup...she makes a fruity one. And then we watched a movie and then made Mexican food which bizarrely tasted like barbeque. I then went for a frigid run in case I don't get any playing time tomorrow in the game.

Can't wait to report about the game tomorrow. I'm sure it will be a doosey. Oh, and I've been invited to Natasha's for a single ladies dinner...I don't particularly like labels. I'm also not upset that its Valentine's Day and I'm single. I've said it before and I'll now put it here...if you cannot appreciate your spouse on any other day than this materialistic excuse for a to celebrate your love and affection for your love then, I feel bad for you. But if you want to just boost the economy, well then I'm all for it. I'll buy some Hershey's to help a country out. I'm excited, there will be hummus!

Well, I'm off to bed. Ciao!

The Pow Wow

So...Laura spoke about us possibly getting to play soccer while here in Spain and I thought...cool, some pick-up will be fun! Well, on Thursday evening we started the walk across the bridge over to Ciudad Jardin and behind the Zoco to play with the girls league in Cordoba not thinking much of it. I definitely had no idea what we were about to get ourselves into...I was completely unsure of how good the girls were going to be because everyone I asked had no idea that women even participated in organized sports here in Spain...

Well, we go inside the locker room and I'm starting to get a little nervous because all of the girls are pretty butchy looking...and at this point, I'm like, "oh, crap." Instantly I was set at ease/uncomfortable (I know...how is that possible to feel those two emotions at once?) when one girl that looks strikingly like Kate Carver from Flagler pulls out a 40 oz of Cruzcampo and is balancing her cigarillo in the other hand!!! They were passing the bottle around and the air was slowly thickening because of all the chain smokers. Que raro! So were looking around a little apprehensive and then we get out on the field and spent the next 2 hours touching the ball from start to finish. Those girls actually fared well considering they have a drinking problem and smoke like chimneys. I, on the other hand, wanted to curl up in a ball and die. I was thought I had embarrassed myself completely by the lack of coordination I possess since it had been 4 years since I played on the Flagler Women's Soccer team. YIKES.

After practice we were already being asked what numbers we wanted on our jerseys and when we would sign! Its cool that I have the opportunity to have a fun form of exercise but I'm not looking for a heavy contract when I only have 4 months remaining in Spain. I do want to maybe use the opportunity to travel around Andalucia when I can and just get to play the sport that I love. That is all.

The next day I couldn't even get out of bed. I was stiff as a board and not to mention the Friday practice we had no idea about. They start practicing at 9 pm (in true Spanish style) and then end around 11:30! Too late for me. For realz.

We actually went to their game tonight and I was unpleasantly surprised about how they lack cohesiveness. The girls act like a bunch of individuals rather than a team. Maybe we can bring together team unity. Not that all the girls are cool, but most are and I think that our American soccer style could be beneficial to the girls because we play differently.

More to report later!

Happy Days

Nothing is scarier than trying to figure out the future. Unfortunately I will always have the mindset that I'm living for tomorrow not for today. Good 'ole Des'ree.

I had a rather entertaining weekend here in Cordoba but I'm about ready to take flight again. I can't be grounded for far too long.

So what did I do this weekend? Stuff that I should have gotten out of my system while I was in college. Hah.

No, but I went over to Jacqueline and Caitlyn's place around 8 on Thursday. I felt good and I actually got ready to look good for a public place because I've been looking trashy and not at all concerned with my looks all week. So I arrive and we begin the night by opening a bottle of wine. Which turns into 2 more. I have a migraine thinking about it all over again. Spanish music quickly got turned to Juvenile and Beyonce and we were ready to head out. At 1 AM. Yikes bikes. So we take a couple of chupitos before heading out the door....because, well I want to make sure I'm not buying any drinks for the night.

I didn't feel like Vial Norte at the start of the night but by the time we headed out, well I didn't care...you could say that. Now, you must understand that Cordoba is a very shallow town and Vial Norte is full of even more shallow men and women...so we go to some bar that I don't remember the name anymore and Caitlyn my very "Spanish-looking" friend convinces the bouncer to give Jackie, Caitlyn and I a free round of shots and a mixed drink. HI-OHH.

So we go right in (oh, I was sure to wear some cute flats with my outfit because I've been turned down for wearing my blue boat shoes...I mean whatever for? Ha.)

It was a blur but I am happy to report as a non-dancer I always have fun in the bars here because no one wants to dance which is really funny because Spain's Spanish counterparts in Central and Latin America love to get down. I'm coming to find that they are not who I thought they were at all.

I got to bed by 4 and I woke up fine. Then around 1 it hit me. Will I ever learn my lesson? Probably not, because if you are having fun while being destructive...well, then I don't mind my methods of mayhem in healthy doses.

However, I may need to refute that last statement now because when I went for a run on Saturday and I was still sweating out all that I drank and it is now Sunday and I'm still with a headache.

Alas.

So I've been talking with Kathleen and Chelsea about our plans for the great continent of Africa in May. And we will be in Morocco! Kathleen told me that her step-mother Dawn was thinking about coming and I told her that she should definitely come. And I meant what I said when I said, "the more the merrier" but now this is turning somewhat dictorial. Chelsea and I have planned Morocco for the past year when I found out that I was going to Spain for the year and we decided that it would be our badass trip together. Then Kathleen gets on board but with Dawn...she is proving to be a bit overzealous. She wants to do some wine tours in Spain and then go to Italy and somehow fit in Morocco! Kowabunga thats nuts.

I've just recently come back from Italy so I really don't want to go there and I've already seen Madrid...I wouldn't mind being there for 1 afternoon to see anything that I may have missed but other than that I want to be living la Arabic vida loca. Speaking of which, I really need to start learning some French. And somehow prepare my ridiculous sweat glands for a hellish ride in Morocco (women should be fully clothed while there...note: Morocco is also in the desert). Kathleen found a zip lining thing just outside Marrakesh and also we found some cheap camel tours for 3 days/2 nights and one of the nights we would get to camp under the stars!!!

So, I was really bummed that I missed my skype date with Nana and co. Everyone was supposed to be there this weekend for Gene's surprise party so it would have been cool if I could pretend that I was there, oh well.

I've been looking online for some food recipes to spice up our boring diet here in Spain but I have not had much luck because simple ingredients like basil or half-n-half don't exist here. Even strawberries are rare and VERY expensive. What the heck?

I don't know how to relieve pressure in my life. Its time that I start to learn too...I just put too much on myself for no reason. Like trying to figure out my life that awaits me in America from Spain and my loneliness. I have always been the single friend and its frightening that I already think the end of the dating road is descending upon me. I was telling Dad that I may just join a convent even though I would have to fake devotion to God. And I'm not willing to go on match.com because lets be serious: meeting someone online is weird. I don't think I could jump into something real that I first had with someone through an email...and I'm only 22. Way too young for that mess.

Oh and an update for a non-update (because I've never posted this before...I'm actually just going to update you on my own mistake).

I did not buy a pair of pants from H&M yesterday that I desperately needed because I read somewhere that they were running sweat shops and it was against my moral code. Well that is not the case for my beloved H&M. However, they deem it necessary to throw or destroy out their unsold merchandise instead of give it to charity. Went to the main website to see their recent statement on the allegations and they state that they only give clothing away to donations if the clothing is a piece and not worth anything and they would rather damage their clothing that is worth a buck than give it to someones deserving. I'm glad I didn't buy those pants.

Oh, and Walmart is in on that too. I don't go to Walmart anyway. We all know that Walmart has no idea how to be an ethically sound company. And it sick to think that they control 10% of our imports and exports.

Okay, thats enough for now...I have to do a lesson for my 4th year science class so they can just look at me all glossed over and manequine like when I try to explain the changes in matter.

Threshold and Grateful

Earlier on Facebook I posted "What's your word of the day?" Several people responded and the words varied and perhaps reflected the kind of day each was having. Threshold stood out and grateful too.

Threshold because I like the way it sounds when you say the "shhh part of the word and how it ends in a "da" sound, as if it has a line that one needs to cross to get past it. I hadn't seen the word for awhile, I knew what it meant but I went to the Thesaurus for more and found, opening, beginning, brink, dawn, doorstep, doorway, edge, entrance, gate, point, verge, etc.

It's a new year and I can relate to beginning, and edge. Which brings me to the next word. One respondent posted the word "grateful." When I read the post I sighed, "I should have thought of that." I need to remember to be grateful each day. Even if things are bad there is always a lot to be grateful for. Later in the day I went to the person's profile who posted grateful and found out why it was her word.
She wrote, "Thank You LORD that my brother Randy was NOT in his office when the Disgruntled Employee came in PENSKE and shot 5 people. Please everyone pray for these people and their families........".

Doors open, one soul trips off the edge and falls into tragedy. Those shot may cross because it was time. I am grateful for all kept out of harms way. I am grateful for today, thresholds and all.

I Will Follow A Set Of Deep Tracks Other People All Stay Hidden...

Its been a few years since Cordoba saw snow and I was just sitting here feeling really stupid for not going for a run and then I look out the window of my apartment and I see these flurries outside. I was hoping there was a hill nearby to go sledding down or at least a palm tree nearby that ironically was covered in snow...but alas, its just a nice set of scenery. Especially because its been raining here. I don't know how the people of England can deal with that depressing weather all year long.

So I never spoke of Paris. This is taking me back to Paris because it snowed there too, but we just couldn't force ourselves inside to stay warm. Cool things were to be seen there. I had just found my way to Terminal 3 with the very little French (Bonjour, parlevous Engle!? -- its not spelled right, but you get the point. Merci.) I knew and I see this girl writing with her finger, "RACHEL WAS HERE". I was SOOOOO excited! I finally was among people that could understand me and feel just as lost as me! There they were. The 3 amigos: Heather, Rachel and Andres. So we waited for this bus to take us to our hotel and got into our room at 2 pm. I was contemplating eating an arm because I could only afford a yogurt at 6 am in the Sevilla airport after the 23 euro cab ride (I love surprises) and just wanted to take a hot shower where surfing is not optional.

I've already made up my mind at this point. I'm not wearing that green dress from H&M for New Years because its already 30 degrees and dipping. Andres says, "You are only in Paris on New Years once in your life. Just wear the dresses." Allllllllright smooth talker. So around 5 we decide its time to head out and we get on the ever confusing metro system that Paris runs on somewhere between where we live and the Earth's core. Teeth are chattering and eyes are tearing up and we just stepped outside the metro exit. We get to the Eiffel Tower and its the first thing we see. So fabulous. This iron cast monstrosity will not disappoint. Its time to eat so we find the first restaurant in front of us and each shared a pizza. )Oh, just so you know...couldn't find a pizza I liked in Italy. Stay with pasta, especially if you have plans on walking all day.) Afterwards we walked to the Eiffel Tower and wandered around taking the usual touristic pictures and were just trying to savor the moment that we were indeed here, that we made it to Paris. On the search for coffee to find a safe haven that was above 60 degrees indoors we kept asking for a Starbucks...and fortunately there was one. Unfortunately, they all closed by 6 that evening. I was already to give up on the rest of the evening at 8 because I knew I wouldn't make until midnight. Andres tells us one more big loop around and lets catch the 10 PM light show, then we can head back. So we finally made it back to L'Eiffel Tower around 9:30 and meet a nice man named Vince (a little too chatty for me) but Heather and him are hitting it off. There are crazy Mexicans hitting the bottle, throwing each other around like rag dolls all stoked that its almost the New Year and Africans selling you an miniature tower for 1 euro; ah, sweet bliss. All of a sudden the light show begins, Mexicans are flying in the air, champagne bottles are popping (guess in their drunken stupor they didn't realize midnight was 2 hours away) and then I look down (I was looking up so I could see the light show and narrowly miss a man being hurled directly in my direction) to see Andres on his knee and Heather looking around every which way through a smiling cry saying, "are you serious?!" Rachel and I are yelling at each other, "did you know!? NOOO did you know!?" and then Rachel with her trusty disposable camera snaps the shot of him on his knee and Heather in a daze. For the record, no one knew. Andres is a quiet one. So we head back after that and bid Vince adieu and head back to the hotel to warm up and soak up the whole experience. I passed out before midnight. I'm just that fun!

The next day we wake up and collectively get on the metro and get back to the Eiffel Tower around 1pm. What a late start...seriously, for the longest day of your life....getting around Paris in that metro takes you hours and came across the Notre Dame. The four of us are debating whether we want to pay the 8 euros to go inside but not before waiting in a 2 hour line only to have made our decision when a disgusting ogre of a man belched on poor Heather! So we make moves hastily and we walk around and realize its too cold for that and hop on a city bus and just let it take us wherever. Later that night we see the Arc de Triomphe (sp) and it was beautifully lit by the Champs Elysees. I didn't feel like sashaying down the famous street because I was starved and the streets were packed but it was gorgeous nonetheless.

That next morning we began our trip back to the Eiffel Tower only to climb it that day! We stood in line for a couple of nippy hours and finally got up to the 2nd floor only to arrive at another line (yay!) and then went up to the 3rd level to see the greatest view! But only for 5 minutes. I saw what I needed to see, took pictures that I wanted to take and made a mad dash for the 1 hour wait back to the ground floor.

On our last full day in Paris we deemed it an incredible idea that we get up at a decent time and make moves to the Lourve. Rachel and I decided that a croissant wasn't enough for breakfast and while Heather and Andres were in line at the Lourve (a surprisingly fast moving line) we didn't make it in time to rejoin them. Heather was outside when we got to the end of the line telling us that she could get us in only for them not to get us in but we walked to the side entrance and I frantically explained that we had been inside already but she was pregnant and needed food and now we needed to go back in (Well, I never finished the last bit. As soon as he heard "pregnant" we got let in. Which he had denied access to the 12 other people in front us!) The Lourve was absolutely breathtaking and 4 (FREE) hours was just not enough in there. We barely covered the terrain in there. I felt cool walking around with Rachel explaining the different pieces that I could recall and the formalities of them all and how they were each significant.

I didn't feel like going back to the Eiffel Tower again (which is of course where the love birds wanted to go...understandably) and I suggested somewhere new since Paris is vast and wide. We went and saw the Luxembourg Palace and its Gardens and it was the most beautiful day by far. We walked down the street and made it to the Pantheon. It was a great way to end the trip. Oh, I must add that I found a crystal Eiffel Tower fully intact on the ground just after a small police bust must have happened (you see, selling anything on the street is illegal). Yup, pretty great way to end the trip.

Oh, I'm sad to report that the snow stopped. And I will not be expecting a snow day tomorrow or the mountains as it is too dark now.

Until next time.

Motivation

Sooo I have finally bit the bullet on this thing and I am going to try my darnedest to keep up with it. It's important for me to remember my travels and not let them fade away (because lets face it....I'm still without a camera). Heather actually re-sparked my interest on writing about my life here in Spain when she started reading her friends on their life in Egypt so far. Anyways, on with the show...

Just got back from a 3 week (MUCH NEEDED) vacay. I have to say it was amazing meeting my family at the Sevilla airport and then embarking on our travels to Italy for the next 10 days. I was so glad that they were all smiling and not pissy because of the long ride they had over because it made me forget how over the day I already was especially since I began my arrival to the airport at 8 that morning and then it started pouring (you will see a pattern soon) as soon as I set foot outside the train station. Then I decide...I've got a little time to kill before I get to the airport, why not get that cup of coffee that I've been craving in the center at the Starbucks. Not only was I completely soaked from the whole experience getting to and from Starbucks and then to the airport but so was my luggage and my boots. Naturally. Oh, and trying to put my luggage on the EA line that connects to the Sevilla airport was a task in an of itself. Oh, thats right; no one in Europe knows how to drive...so I go flying down the middle of the bus with my bags and my scalding hot coffee. I just go to too much trouble for my generic brand standby.

Rome was incredible to see and I have to hand it to my Mom that making arrangements with tour guides was a smart move. From the moment we arrived in Rome we had to fly into the city center for a tour on the Vatican. WOW. That place is epic. It makes it all the more real that a place like that could have its own zipcode. Quite magnificent on its on right and Saint Peter's Square (in which the Vatican looks over) was absolutely gorgeous too. A bit frigid but awesome. By the time you get to the Sistine Chapel all you want to do is just lay on the floor in the very large room and and just look up at the sky and reflect on what you are seeing. Michaelangelo was quite a talent although he had no idea what a female actually looked like. Obviously he only had eyes for Mark's and John's....

We walked around for a bit after the tour and we stood at this "vanishing point" I guess you could call it and if you were looking at a line of 4 columns they would be placed perfectly behind one another and it was super cool.

Later we returned back to our hotel which was in a really nice part of town (a little hard to get to...aka because we didn't know where the heck we were...we later find out we are literally 100 feet away from the Spanish Steps). Had some dinner at a nice restaurant below us. I swear we lucked out wherever we went because everyone just about, spoke English. Emerson was driving me nuts with his Spanish-speaking, not gonna lie about that.

The next morning we got up early and met up for another tour called the 'Angels and Demons' tour based off of the book which I never read, never will read and still haven't even seen the Tom Hanks movie. However, our very excited tour guide, this young guy from Oregon but was raised in Italy and talks faster than most Americans made our 3.5 hour trip into a 5 hour one and it passed by so quickly. We basically followed a route that also looked like a Christian cross --cool stuff. We even got to have a cappuccino and then see the Parthenon for a quick minute. It was way dirtier than I could have ever imagined but when I went inside it was just gorgeous and the oculus was beautiful on that day since the sun was shining.

Later that night we met up with this cool guy from Venezuela and he was like this gothic rocker, which I feel like most guys from South America tend to be, when they are more Americanized. At least that is what I have seen while living in South Florida (have to back myself up...don't want any bad remarks thrown at me ha). But he took us on a nighttime tour of the "haunted Rome", which I'm sure there are these incredible mysteries about Rome...but he didn't really seem to know a whole lot. Anyway, we get to this church where these guys back in the day formed this society/church for the died/dying during the Plague years that were not getting proper burials and were just being thrown in fire pits/rivers/etc. and they cremated the bodies and just gave them the proper burials that the dead deserve. Well, the church is still around today and it is ornate with several cool trinkets such as a chandelier made of skeletal remains. Cool stuff. We went back the next day to check it out and see for ourselves. I really liked the whole vibe of the church, there was just a solitary nun darning socks or something and the candles were lit and it felt like we were the only ones in the entire place. Tori and I agreed that we felt more in that church than we did in the Vatican.

The next day was the most somber day for some reason but we took the metro Line A to the Colosseum and we kinda got there early and we stopped off for a cappuccino at the top of the hill that overlooks the Colosseum and it was the most delicious cap I've ever had and for a nice price of only 1 euro. Can't beat that. We were fortunate enough to have the best continental breakfasts at our hotel, Modern Hotel, and the cleaning lady/cook made the best cappuccino's in the morning. Spoiled, I am aware. So anyway, we meet up with our tour guide with the thickest Italian accent (so I must say I zoned out the entire time) and we ventured around the monstrous edifice and I could almost imagine the chariot races around its inner circle. We finished off at the Roman Forum and it was so cool there; there were aqueducts (only one of which they still use today -- w0w!) and it was like this awesome graveyard of precious monuments and sculptural pieces remaining in Rome's antiquity. That moment will definitely last with me.

3 days in Rome was the perfect amount of time and although it was sad to go because it was quite a blast we headed off 3 hours down the road to Cavrigglia in Il Toscana. We got to the Ipercoop at 9 at night and I'm already kind of freaking because I'm a Florida girl and I'm not used to driving in the snow, and we don't even have chains on...and the car was freaking out while we are just trying to park in the lot. We get hoards of food because we haven't even eaten and we know we won't be eating for quite a bit. Emerson's GPS gets us going the wrong way up the mountain/valley/hill whatever you want to call it and Mom is freaking out, they are both standing out in the snow for like 15 minutes and all I want them to do is shut the door so I don't later die of hypothermia. Well we finally get moving and they decide that its a good idea that we follow the directions of the owners of the house (duh) and turn down the start of the drive. Its the start of a small town too. Bizarre. There are lots of small towns within towns come to find out though that only comprise of 10 houses or something. So we see the neighbors house and we have to keep going, this is where we should have parked the car and grabbed our bags and begun to walk like Cameron Diaz in 'The Holiday'.

We round the first corner (with no chains...eek) and its a little shisty. Then we round the second corner and I swear I was going to meet my maker, man. I'm clutching for dear life and thank goodness Emerson was behind the wheel because we would have been goners for sure. We get out of the car, I'm kissing the ground and we go inside to forget that any of that even happened. I needed a chupito. Come to find out later that the owner didn't even come up to his house because the snowfall was too dangerous. Ha.

Well the thing about the windows and doors in Italy is that they are sealed shut. Pretty cool if you have nothing better to do that have a "snowed in" day and want to sleep in until 1 PM!!!!!! I opened the front door because I couldn't find my phone in the pitch black house and it was like POW POW POW when I opened the door. It was like the sun burst my eyeballs and the sun shining was so brilliant. The view of the Tuscan valley was just breathtaking and a winter wonderland.

The next day we set alarms and hoped that we'd be able to get out of the house with snow still on the ground. Silvano, the owner came to our rescue with chains to get us out. We left for Siena for the day and saw the beautiful Duomo but didn't last too long because it was just so oogly and rainy. Which rain it did, for the remainder of our trip. The second day we went to Venice and that was quite a haul...especially since we left at like 8 am only to be stuck in traffic for 5 hours the way there and then another 4 on the way back. Ridiculous. That was miserable getting there. But once we were there the sun began to set and it was beautiful. The long glass bridge that gets you on the islandic suburbia was quite cool. The windy streets were littered with Italian locals doing last minute Christmas shopping and we got to the waters edge to see St. Peters and the gondolas were all along the edge and it was just so cute a picturesque. Mom decides that she does in fact know where she is in Venice because how could she forget...she was only here yesterday, AKA 10 years ago. She proceeds to get us so completely lost in the pouring rain in back streets and is going so fast that she almost falls off a dock and thank goodness Emerson has another one of his gadgets, the iPhone with GPS on it and we get back to civilization. Nothing else cool happened that night because we were stuck in the worst traffic I've ever seen in my life for the 8 hour ride home.

The next day we went to Florence and the owners told us about free parking at the top of the hill that overlooks the city right by the iron-cast David, and we walked down. Tori told us about Ponte Anciano (is that right?) which is 'The Old Bridge' which is composed of these old houses turned jewelry stores and we walked over that to get to the Firenze center. We went straight to the musuem that is in Firenze (can't remember the name) and walked around in there for a few hours and saw some incredible art pieces. I remember there being a lot of redheads in Firenze. Perhaps because Firenze has the word fire in it. Tori was in love. I noticed a lot of the Italian well, 1. being better looking than those in Spain but, 2. having really creepy blue eyes that looked like they were stalking prey with or something. Maybe its all true.

Then I'm bitchy at this point because I'm starved and I don't think I had a feeding in between meals but we march on to see Michaelangelo's David, which for a hefty price of 10 euros a head it was worth it. I wish we had gone on a Sunday or something, I'm sure its free then. It was quite remarkable that piece of art though. He was incredibly huge (no, not down there. You would have though that Michaelangelo would have appreciated that in a man...) Then it stopped raining for 10 minutes and we sit in the middle of this square, the pigeons are like white on rice when they see Mom pulling out the ingredients of our lunch. Haha, it was pretty ridiculous that we hadn't made our lunch beforehand. Because here is Mom making the sandwiches for us right then and there and she was right, we did look homeless. A for effort though, a picnic would have been a nice thought if it was a. prepared, and b. not raining. We walked around the rest of the afternoon taking in the sites and trying not to be sick of each other yet. Oh, Mom got over her embarrassment when a bus driver and young woman came running into the same square yelling obscenities at one another in Italian over him robbing her of a bus ticket or something. Either way, it made her feel better, and me too. I hate seeing her upset. Side note: she did really well keeping up the entire trip. She told me that she trained walking with Buddha 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles at night. I'm proud.

So on Christmas morning I presented Tori with a photo frame of us and then Mom with a photo of us and a Tous necklace charm (I told her it was very Spanish and it is like the version of Tiffany) and with that being said she only got the charm. I couldn't afford the cadena (chain). But she told me she would wear it as soon as she got back to the states. Oh, I also gave them each a really different scarf when they got off the plane in Sevilla, also stating that it was very Spanish. Tori got a checkered blue and black one, Mom got a wintery scarf and Emerson got the Sevilla FC one. They are significantly better than Cordoba. It would be embarrassing if I had purchased something of the Cordoba FC merchandise because they are D3 and like the worst in the D3. Yikes. I may have to pick something up anyway while I am here...because i hate the shirts that look like the "I <3>

Anyway, Emerson just had to see the leaning tower of Pisa, which I'm glad we got to see. Its pretty cool and I later read on a plane magazine when we were coming back to Spain that there is a second one. Hmph. Stayed there for a minute and drove to Cinque Terre because Mom really wanted to go there. It quite possibly was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. The sun was actually shining that day, even though it was a little hazy. We first stopped at the entrance of the National Park and Tori and I wandered down the road a bit and came across this vacant looking town with frozen over olive vines all over and it was breathtaking the view that they had. Don't slip though, its a long way down. So we start up the road in the car and the road was just endless, hence the name 5 lands. There was this town at the edge of the cliff with crashing waves hitting it and it was absolutely mesmerizing. It looked like a scene from the Little Mermaid. If only it had been clearer we would have been able to see the eastern coast of Spain. Pretty cool. Got lost on the way down, roads were closed because of heavy rainfall, yadda yadda. We eventually made it back!

The next morning we left semi-early, wanted to go to the real outlet mall for real outlet prices since I needed boots since it was freezing and I had lost my 30 euro boots to the rain in Venice and I looked really American with my running shoes on. AKA lame. So we get there only to find out that its closed because its a holiday. Womp. So Mom is on to the next plan. She tells us of the town which I can't recall the name of now that is on the way back to Rome and the towns people once secretly stole Jesus' penis when he was crucified and it was later stolen back from the Vatican in the 70's. Why it took that long I'm not sure. Did they have his penis, I'm not sure of that either. It was very cool. You have to park outside the town because its another one of those that you can't fit a car in it..and we walked in, Tori fell about 7 times in her cowboy boots and I tried really hard not to laugh. But I mean, c'mon it was hilarious. So we are walking through this now artsy hipster village and I am secretly looking for relics but I don't think it housed any more. We stopped off for tea in this tea shop which famously has over 100 types so its even more badass than Teavana. And that capped off our travels to Rome. We even managed to get to the airport on time with being lost and all and the car rental people never mentioned the huge piece of the car scraping the bottom of it when we arrived or when Emerson ran into the pole with the side of the car as we were pulling in to get our parking ticket for the garage. Good stuff.

We got in hella late and slept in a bit and headed for Cordoba. I showed them around the first day and we had tapas right next door while the sun was shining and then we went to Tapagonia (the Argentinian place) for dinner and it was delish. The hot manager didn't look so high that night or maybe he didn't look like he was coming off of the drugs and what I saw was he was in fact high/drunk and he looked better. Either way. The next day we walked around some more. A my birthday present I got a new pair of boots that I report to you are still leak free and quite comfortable and are Spanish and really cool and I know I will have them for a long time. And they also have good grip on the road so I don't have mishaps like Tori. Mom and I really wanted to see Andalucia but Tori and Emerson were being a bit lame, Tori even said she just wanted to sleep because thats what she does when shes home from school and they protested that is was pouring everywhere. What's new right? So we stayed in and watched movies and shows on Ch131 and the rest was history. So we are walking back to the train station to catch a train and Emerson is sick as a dog. As soon as we get to the hotel at like 11 he passed out for the rest of the day. Mom, Tori and I went out to the city center in Sevilla and had a great time together. We had our trusty map and I still couldn't read it but Tori did really well. I wanted us to go to a Flamenco show but when we decided we wanted to it was pouring cats and dogs and to be honest we weren't even close to the city center. We had an okay dinner at the hotel and then these dudes from this Spanish group, but from NY, Xtreme, came to the hotel. I wanted to kill them for keeping me up until 3 in the morning when I had to be up at 5 for my flight to Paris. It was really hard saying goodbye to Mom. I thought it would be hard for me to say bye to Tori until she yelled at me that morning saying something about me promising to be quiet. Yep, she rocks. Oh, while in the shower that night instead of it being a nice relaxing shower I decided skim boarding was way more fun. I literally lost grip underneath me, held onto the glass door on the shower only for it to act as a swinging door and me to eat shit on the tile.

So it was hard for me to say goodbye, I'm crying. No one else is. And then I get to the airport 4 minutes later and that cabbie charges me 23 euro stating it is a flat rate. What the hell?!? I was expecting 10. So I cried some more. I got over it and Vueling let me put my luggage on for free which was nice. And I slept a little on the plane even.

When I got to CDG I was hungry and needed caffeine. I saw a Starbucks sign so I got really happy especially since I hate how small the coffee cups are here in Europe. But not America baby -- go big or go home! Well the escalators are like futuristic and send you in pods to other parts of the airport and I see the sign but have no idea how to get to it. The elevators are not telling me what floor I'm on but I know I need to get to the 2nd one...I can't speak French and I can't find an Information desk...and then I found it! I was so happy! I sat there, wrote a little and then decided it was time to meet Heather, Andres and Rachel at the hotel. I find the Information desk this time and they tell me where to go. I get there and see them waiting for the hotel shuttle; nothing like perfect timing and we settled in for a bit.

To be continued...