tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75299431188518264922024-03-13T20:08:11.092-07:00Small Town Girl Takes on the Whole WorldJ.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-12683523153542594262013-04-03T22:45:00.001-07:002013-04-03T22:45:29.677-07:00Life is stupidAuthor is lacking in motivation for this. Maybe she will later post about her amazing birthday adventures in the land of the Gaulles. And the less than healthy obsession with the German kid. Probs not on the second though.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-77126225417534573512013-02-25T11:26:00.000-08:002013-02-25T11:26:47.425-08:00Going to France to eat the food of South Korea and less delicious thingsSo as I believe I've mentioned before, I have a host sister who is Korean, and in light of this past weeks events, I would be insane without her here and my other host sister would be dead. And I think she feels the same about me. Who knows if we'd be so close if there wasn't a mutual person we both wanted to murder? Anyway, last week was winter vacation, which is why I had my lovely Germany trip and spent way too much time watching How I Met Your Mother and Community (2 seasons of each because I have nothing to do here but avoid homework, which is why I'm writing this now instead of a paper and finishing a project, yay). It also means that my youngest host sister has two weeks off from her school. Never in my life did I think having to go back to school would be so amazing. I get to be away from her and not be driven insane every day by her lack of awareness of other human beings. Maybe this is a sign that I shouldn't have kids and should just stick to large quantities of dogs instead. Anyway, we had a talk with our host mom about some of the stuff she was doing so hopefully it'll get better, and this isn't what I wanted to talk about really so on to some food and observation.<br />
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I learned how to make a Korean dish, and no I have no idea what the name is. All I know is that it's delicious. And it takes a hell of a lot of time to chop all the vegetables needed. It was worth it though, and if you ever learn how to make whatever dish this was, you'll understand how amazing it is to say it after all the steps that are required. It makes paella look like a 5 minute microwave meal (in time comparison NOT by taste standards). Anyway, I also figured out how to make the rice for sushi, which means that I can now (probably and seriously hopefully) make my own sushi, which means not breaking my bank account for sushi belly. YAYAYAYAY!!!! This is kind of the best news of my life, unless I get a letter from the UK begging me to just be a citizen already, although the chances of that are slim, I still have hope. And don't even think about popping that one. ANYWHO sushi, I'm capable of it, it's a big deal. And I can make a Korean dish, I'm awesome, so just love me already. Next part:<br />
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I didn't realize how much eating with other people bothers me. So here's a long list of complaints I have about anyone who eats food like this. 1) The only time you should watch someone eat (like vigilantly staring at the food on their plate and when they shove it in their mouth) is when you're observing an anorexic to make sure they're taking in enough calories. Sometimes (all the time actually) fat people like food, and we dislike when people observe us like chimps at the zoo because we have a passion for food. Eating is one of the few talents we have, and we'd like you non fat people to not take that away from us. (Ok this might just be my general opinion, I don't actually speak for the fat person community, although new aspiration? I think so!!) 2) What is with all the mouth noises when you eat? Did your parents never teach you not to smack your mouths. I know this is a pet peeve of mine, but it's disgusting to listen to you eat like my dog, or a pig. It legit makes me feel physically ill, which upsets me because I like keeping my food in my stomach. (Food and I are in a FABULOUS relationship in case you hadn't noticed.) 3) This goes hand in hand with number two, who talks with food in their mouth? And I'm not talking about a peanut, I'm talking about a full tortellini. That's nasty bro, I don't want to see it, I'm a weeny and I like to whine about little things and that's one of them. At least move your hand in front of your mouth, that's just common courtesy. 4) It's not so much of a problem but how can you not feel random particles of food on your face? It's not like you have a three foot beard for things to get trapped in for the birds living in it (anyone anyone?). I just don't even comprehend how you can't feel melted cheese smeared across your cheek, are your nerve endings dead? I need this explained to me. And now I feel slightly better and less sickened. Next part:<br />
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This is the part where if you're a boy, you should stop reading. If you don't want to be forced to the level of best friends stop reading. If you're one of the faint of hearts, you really wanna stop reading at least until the next paragraph. So, I liked to consider myself extremely lucky in the female health department, because I was a month away from 21 years without a yeast infection. Then February happened, it's not really February's fault, but since it's the shittiest month in the year, I'm blaming it anyway. Needless to say, I got one, and OMG it's enough to make me get a sex change to never get one again. This shit is ridiculous. Now normally I'm not the type of person to flaunt my health on the internet, but if there's a female reading this, you'll give me an "Oh sweetie" (mentally of course) and then you'll laugh and thank god this didn't happen to you, so let me start the story. I woke up to one of the remaining days of my week vacation in France, filled with the lustrous hope of finishing the 8th season of How I Met Your Mother and possibly starting Community all in the same day, I know, big hopes. When all of a sudden, in my nether regions I felt more than a slight discomfort. So I went to the bathroom in order to see what the fuck was going on with my lady bits, when after a few actions I won't describe, there was a "HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS WHAT IS THIS???" moment. Good thing I'd had a curiosity about yeast infections and had asked a friend what that was like, and knew, after a few moments of calming down, what I was dealing with. So a few hours passed with a lot of itchy temptations that I resisted, and my host mom finally came home. For a few of those hours there was a panic that I wasn't going to be able to make it to the pharmacy to get medication, and since it was a Saturday that meant I'd have to go until Monday without any medicine because Europe still enjoys torture. Luckily she came home and I got the lovely joy of telling her what I had and could she please take me to a pharmacy so I wouldn't cut out my baby making parts to just be done with it (because anyone who has had one knows how much fun wouldn't be had for those three days). So as my luck would have it when we arrive to the pharmacy, the pharmacist is a male. Just reread that, make a sigh like noise, and we'll continue. So instead of letting me bumble through my french skills which are not adequate enough to handle this type of situation (at least not at this time) my host mom jumps right in there and says about 50 times that her host daughter (being me, in case you didn't know) has a yeast infection, and it's her first one (like it was my first period and something to be proud of or something) and it's not my host mother's but mine, and I need medication. Instead, I would have rather snuck out and gone to another pharmacy where there's a nice old lady pharmacist who's probably had a few and understands my pain and wouldn't have been embarrassing as fuck. So as we're talking to this nice man, and the entire store now knows that my vagina has betrayed me, I have the pleasure of then asking the nice gentleman if getting my period will affect this medicine at all or if it should still work fine. The answer is that you can indeed use the medicine on your period. Since I started mine last night. Because my body hates me, wholeheartedly. Again, further reason for why I hate February. It's the unholy trinity of bad luck, there's singles awareness day, there's yeast infections, and periods. WORST MONTH EVER. J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-24211844535828205242013-02-19T13:25:00.000-08:002013-02-19T13:25:00.275-08:00Bon Voyage A AllemagneSo this weekend I took a trip to Heidelberg Germany to send off a friend back to the states. I had a lovely time and I also learned quite a few things. Firstly, Germany is a way better place to get candy in than the states, because they still have crispy M&Ms. WHICH ARE THE BEST M&MS EVER....DON'T EVEN TRY TO DISAGREE. In my humble opinion whoever decided to stop producing them in the states should be fired. As fast as humanly possible. Because they were the destroyer of the best candy ever to be invented.<br />
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The second reason Germany is better than the states is because they have paulaner beer. (I don't know if we have this in the states for the main reason being that I'm 21 and don't have free rights to wander around alcohol shops.) But it's just full of fabulous goodness and it even tastes good warm. You know it's a good beer if you can drink it warm.<br />
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I also had a pizza sandwich, and this is a beautiful thing. It's where you take two frozen pizzas and cook them at the same time. It's also better if you use two different types of pizza, if you want to do the same boring kind to be a lame boring sauce head you can, but that's lame and boring. So just spice up your life and use two different kinds already. Once they are done cooking you place one upside down on top of the other. And then you cut it into however many pieces you want/have the energy for. Then you stuff your face with one of the most magical creations ever found.<br />
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I've also realized that my habit for being early is a lovely thing, and I should never change that, because when I change that, I miss trains, and then I have to take expensive taxi rides to catch my next train. That's the morale of Germany. I legitimately got to the platform as my train was pulling away, luckily for me it was just the tiny little train ride that I missed, not the three ish hour one to take me back to fancy France pants. So I rushed outside and had my darling friend ask if there was any way possible to get me to Mannheim before 2:40, which the nice gentleman taxi driver said yes. He made it there with 5 minutes before my train left, so he got a 20 euro tip because I didn't have time to wait for change. I hope his day was made. I will also never complain about how taxi drivers drive ever again, because with his mad wicked grand theft auto skills, I managed to not have to buy another expensive train ticket. However, I will still complain when they make lewd and inappropriate suggestions to me when all I want is a ride home so I don't have to climb up a damn mountain.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-30778070959104110502013-02-07T14:56:00.000-08:002013-02-07T14:56:39.944-08:00The honeymoon phase has crashed and burnedAlrighty, this here is the blog where I whine about anything and everything I can think of. If it doesn't sound like something you'd enjoy reading, it's probably where you should stop reading, because it's probably the only thing I'm going to do, except maybe thank a few people for me not being totally insane at this point in time.<br />
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Alright, so first of, let me just say to everyone that told me that the CLA was a professional school and blah blah blah all the lovely things about great schools should be inserted in this part, HERE'S A BIG EFF YOU. WERE YOU HIGH THE ENTIRE TIME YOU WERE HERE??? This is NOT, NO WAY IN HELL, a university. Universities have their schedules together, they don't have problems with class sizes being too big, and they ACTUALLY USE REAL BOOKS. The teachers shouldn't be shocked when they have 42 students in one classroom when you have 15 different class levels each with 20 people open to the same courses. It's not that shocking, the fuck were you thinking, only 3 people would have an interest in your course? And I don't appreciate you being all twaty and fucking up my schedule because you didn't have the foresight to understand that when you have 300 students in a program, your classes are going to be big. Especially when you fuck up every single one of my classes because of this problem. Not to mention, maybe you should spend my money on real desks, instead of a random piece of plywood over four sticks that are uneven and barely held together! (That last part might be slightly overdramaticized, but not by much.) There is no purpose for you to have a smart board in every classroom when NONE of my teachers use it or even know what the fuck it is. THAT'S WHAT WE CALL USELESS OVERSPENDING.<br />
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Dear French people, how the eff do you raise your children? Where is the knowledge that there are other people and that you should watch out for them? I understand that when children are playing with other children, they don't particularly notice when other people are around because they're busy having fun and doing childish things. I'm ok with that, I was once a child doing those things. But dear god, when I'm sitting on a couch, in a tiny little space mind you, not taking over half of it sprawled everywhere, it shouldn't be that hard to not hit me. Especially when I'm not even in the middle of the couch. I've never seen kids run into a table or a wall or any other furniture for that matter, so why can't you teach them the same thing about other humans? SOME OF US ARE GRUMPY ALWAYS AND DON'T WANT YOU TO RUN INTO US EVERY FIVE MINUTES AND THEN APOLOGIZE, IT STOPS WORKING AFTER THE SIXTH TIME. Also, where the fuck did privacy go? I don't care if you can't read my language, stop peering over my shoulder to see everything I'm doing, I like not having your face in front of whatever screen I'm using at that moment, it's how I need it in order to SEE. Personal space bubbles exist, TEACH THAT TO YOUR CHILDREN.<br />
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Dear bus system, how hard is it to get the buses you have scheduled for certain stops to those stops at the time you've previously scheduled? I'm not even talking about bad weather conditions, I'm talking about when there are no problems whatsoever. How the fuck do you mess that up. I mean I know I'm in Europe and that you guys love to utilize your strikes, but this is on normal days. Perfect conditions, so would you mind telling me why randomly there are buses that don't make it to where they're supposed to be going? Now onto the bad weather section, one centimeter of snow is not bad weather, this should not cause you to pause the entire bus system for hours. I would accept if you reduced the number of buses or if you made it take longer to get there, I'm from Nebraska, I understand that snowy roads are not safe to go extremely fast on. But one centimeter, when it's not even sticking to the ground, in face when it instantaneously melts as soon as it touches the ground, is no cause for you to suspend public transportation for hours on end.<br />
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I WANT FAT AMERICAN FOOD PLEASE SOMEONE MAIL IT TO ME. THIS INCLUDES CHIPOTLE, BWW, AND REAL CHEETOS. IF YOU LOVE ME YOU'LL MAKE THIS HAPPEN.<br />
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I miss my dog, I miss him so much I've cried every night for the past week because my bed is too big without him. I miss his hugs and face noms and force cuddles and wrestling with him. I'd even gladly let him eat my least favorite pair of shoes right now if that meant I could see him right this instant. I don't think I've ever missed anything as much as I miss him right now. I would give up sushi for the remainder of his life if he could just be here with me right now. Someone mail him to me with my unhealthy food stash?<br />
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People who read this, learn to answer your damn fb messages, if I'm taking the time out of my enjoyment of Europe to talk to you, take the time out of your boring life (I know it's boring, because I'm not there to make it fabulous) to message me back, yes REBECCA ANNE MILLER this means you, you've made the rant page, how does that make you feel about us right now???!??!?! YOU'RE LOSING THE WIFE CONTEST.<br />
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It is a sin for Jane Austen to be read in any language other than English, if the person reading said work speaks English. Get that through your head France, and don't tell me I should be reading it in French, that's like me telling you you should read Voltaire in English, because it'd capture his thoughts better.<br />
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I MISS ENGLISH PEOPLE AND THEIR MORE THAN LIFE CHANGING ACCENTS, WHY CAN'T I JUST BE ONE OF THEM?????<br />
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Screw not sleeping, it's throwing a bad kink in my life, I like sleep, I can't thrive without it, I need it, like I need chocolate. This like five hours a night thing because I'm too busy crying over my lack of the big fat dog and not being british is getting in the way of my life. Someone mail me knock out pills with my dog and food. Also please make sure the food is in a safe area from Datsik's face, or it'd be a waste to mail it really.<br />
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I would also just like to take moment to thank Seulgi, Bdub, Tom and Aaron for putting up with my whiney self. This semester has been harder than Spain on a lot of different levels, and you guys deal with me the most I feel. You guys also are the main reasons why I haven't gone into full insanity, simply because you let me whine and or entertain me for hours on end, as if I were a two year old. I wish I were that adorable. So again, thank you, really. Especially since it's February.<br />
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ALSO FUCK YOU FEBRUARY, YOU'RE TAKING YOUR DAMN SWEET TIME GETTING OVER YOURSELF. Can I just tell you how much it sucks being in France over Valentine's Day? I mean it would be a different story if I weren't single, rather just alone here for Vday. But single, on Vday in the romance capital of the world? REALLY?!??! It's bad enough back home moping around for an entire month because it's just the shittiest month in the year every year, but in France, in Europe, where you can see everyone being all adorable and coupley with thousands of hours of PDA logged on every street corner, I'm dying. Just hurry up and move on already. I can't eat that much more chocolate without exploding from it.<br />
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I think I've run out of things to whine about now. And just for emphasis, I miss my dog. :(J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-67448156586491173792013-02-04T11:46:00.000-08:002013-02-04T11:46:01.960-08:00Thankful for the little thingsI know everyone always says that you should count your blessings every day, and I'm definitely one of the people that's like, yea ok, I'ma get right on that, thanks for the idea. (That's read with a lot of sarcasm.) But this past week, I actually did count my blessings that I have no medical conditions and that I'm an extremely healthy person. For one, I have no known allergies, which is great considering if you're in a foreign country and you don't know how to say what you're allergic to, you're screwed in a less than fun way.<br />
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But on top of that, I can't imagine going to a different country with a serious illness and living with a host family. It'd be so difficult. The reason I bring this up is because one of my host sisters has a health problem, and that's about as far as I'll go into it, because it's neither my business nor the world's exactly what she has. But her experience has to be extremely difficult. When you go to a foreign place where you don't speak the language, living with a new family, it's very stressful to ask them for special circumstances. On top of that if you don't have the words to describe what's happening and what you need, it's an awful time. Just watching how upset my host sister was got me upset.<br />
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So today, I'm thankful that I'm in fine health and my diet doesn't have any special restrictions besides insanely ginormous amounts of chocolate, multiple times a week. I'm happy and healthy and having a fantastic time, and that makes me crave a bit of chocolate...so tata for now while I go search for some cocao.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-11749957360215941042013-01-27T11:45:00.001-08:002013-01-27T11:45:23.110-08:00Look at How Good I'm DoingIt hasn't even been a full week, and I'm already at this blogging thing again. Look at me go! Anyway, I've been having so many good things going on, I thought I should report them before something catastrophic happens to make me forget all the lovely things.<br />
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Firstly, I took my placement test last Monday to find out which class I would be in for my semester here in Besancon, and I was worried that I wouldn't do well on it because I had a semester off from French when I was in Spain. On Thursday we found out the results at 4:30 pm and it was one of the most stressful waits of my life (at least that I can remember). I was the last person in the group of students I'm here with to find out where I was placed, simply because I didn't want to physically force my way through the masses who were also waiting to discover the results. It turns out I got placed in C1 which is one of the best classes, most people in the group I came with usually place in the B levels, so for me to get so high is really fantastic. I've had a lot of my French teachers from back home congratulate me, which I do deserve because it's really a fantastic thing.<br />
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On the same line of classes, I've managed to give myself a four day schedule with no classes on Monday, which means I have 3 day weekends ever week :) and on all of my big breaks, I get an extra day. This is extremely good news, since traveling back on a Monday is much cheaper than traveling on Sundays. I'm already making plans on where I want to go in France and the surrounding countries. This is again the part where I beg my mother to find some random stash of money to pay for all these travel plans I want to do.<br />
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I'm still in love with my host family, even more so than the last time. Why you might be asking, because they let me cook here. I feel like part of the family. They let me make a paella tonight, and it turned out fabulously, it's the best one I've made so far. They complimented me on it, and said the next time we have it, I have to teach them the recipe. Which means I'm guaranteed another day of cooking!!! And tomorrow I'm making them pancakes!!! WHO DOESN'T LOVE PANCAKES!! I can even make them fabulously shaped pancakes, because I indeed have those skills.<br />
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The new girl who is going to be staying with us until July arrived on Friday, and she seems pretty awesome. I've only spent a couple days with her but from what I've learned, she's amazing. She likes Pride and Prejudice, and she's going to teach me how to make sushi, there is nothing she could do to make me not like her. She's also just super adorable, and she takes some of the pressure off of me to spend all my time with Eline, which is really nice. It helps me get some me time, and everyone who knows me, knows I get Hitler-esque if I don't get to be by myself for a bit. She's from South Korea, and the little bits she's shared about it are really interesting. The only negative side of this, is that she doesn't speak a lot of French so we're reverting to English so that she can understand stuff, which sucks for me, because I want to practice my French, not my English skills (I'll get enough of that when I go back to England and find my future husband).<br />
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I had my first real champagne tonight, and it was pretty delicious, I might make a tradition when I get back to the states of champagne Saturdays, it's kind of a nice idea. Along with working out again, because oh my gosh the food here, it's so good I can't stop eating, I'm going to gain all the weight back that I lost in Spain, and I'm not ok with that :(.<br />
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And not that this is good news, this is just for funsies, but here's a list of all the places outside of France I'm planning on going to. (And no dear family and friends, this is not a shameless plug for you to pick your preferred destination and donate to the Jaci plays in Europe fund. Promise.) I'm thinking of hitting up Prague, somewhere in Germany depending on the time of the semester, Geneva or even possibly some small town close to the French border, Austria, northern Italy, Ireland, Scotland, another trip to my beloved England for two weeks to tour around all the places I've read about in Jane Austen novels, and possibly even back to Spain to say hello to my ama and a few friends who are still there studying. Oh, and I forgot Brussels. How silly of me.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-18890183963308238112013-01-23T16:08:00.000-08:002013-01-23T16:08:03.116-08:00The after effects of chippie chips and gravySo an update on my incredibly amazing life right now, I figure I can stick better to once a week rather than like once a day, because not nearly enough things happen for me to fuel this every day. Last weekend I went to England to see a friend one last time before she moved to Australia, and it was kind of the best time of my life ever. I seriously fell in love with that country, which I kind of figured I would. I met quite a few amazing people, who were fabulous. I can now attest that British people make Americans say just as many words to hear the funny accent as we do to them. And it certainly is a new feeling being the odd man out. Of course I ate fish and chips, since it's kind of a requirement when you go to England, and yea, I probably just made that up. I also went out and partied with the Brits, and again fabulous. I loved it so much there, there was one point in time while I was at the train station where I just contemplated going AWOL and staying in England for forever. It was one of those places that just made you feel like you were home. It was a beautiful feeling, and I'm definitely going back some day. It'd even be like the best gift in my life if I could live there, at least for a bit, I've never been so enchanted with a place in my life, and I like to consider myself a bit of a world traveler.<br />
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In other news, I start my real classes on Monday instead of these boring hours of "intensive" courses where I learn nothing and doodle in my notebook. I've managed to meet some awesome people here, AND I'VE FOUND A STORE THAT HAS CLOTHES MY SIZE!!! As a fat person in Europe, you start to feel really awful about yourself when you can't even find clothes to cover one of your legs let alone both. So to actually find a store with my size in it, that has things I like the look of, is like the best chocolate on the world on Christmas with a mind blowing orgasm. No, it's better than that. I just don't know any words in any language to describe the feeling it gives you.<br />
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I also bought new shoes, please don't tell my mother, she doesn't need to know, and there's something so nice and lovely about a new pair of functional shoes, they're not even heels. They're lovely black boots, that were just calling my name. So I couldn't leave them behind.<br />
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I'm still in love with my host family, they actually said I was part of the family the other day, which after the last people I stayed with, almost made me cry. I adore them so much, and the dad is so funny, he has like a direct line to my sense of humor, and uses it frequently. They're letting me cook for them all day Saturday, I am so happy with this that I could explode. Seriously, I get teary eyed from my luck this semester, it's completely opposite from my last experience. And I'm really hoping that it continues for out the rest of the semester.<br />
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The only problems I've had so far is a slight bit of homesickness (and I don't even have Jane here to comfort me :(((() along with missing my dog, because who wouldn't miss his adorable little face, and everything is so much more expensive here than it was in Spain. Granted I've had to pay like everything to get here twice because fuck you French government, and that hits a bank account pretty damn hard. Which makes me sad, because well, it means less travel time if I decide to stay with my lovely host family, which I'm really truly considering because I do NOT want to live in the dorms again...ever. Which means no return to England this semester is what it seems like :( oh well, we'll see. If you read this and feel like making a donation to Jaci's play around Europe birthday present you should hit up my mother, she would love to deposit it into my account. And on that note, I've run out of new information and sales pitches, so I leave you until next week, where I hopefully have something interesting to say.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-72369749451674714522013-01-14T09:58:00.000-08:002013-01-14T09:58:13.229-08:00A new beginning Alright, time to get back into the swing of things here. I know I FAYULED big time during my semester in Spain with the blogs I was supposed to be writing. So here´s to a new year and trying to do better. There won´t be that many simply because we´re working with a less than perfect internet connection so we´ll see how long I keep this up.<br />
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Last minute thoughts on Spain: I met so many amazing people who I now consider some of my closest friends. The stuff we went through and shared together is amazing. It´s crazy how close you can get to someone in a matter of months. I miss every person I went with so much, and not seeing them every day for hours on end is one of the strangest things to go through. I saw a lot of amazing places, not as many as I should have, which I regret a little bit, but the places I did see were well worth it. Spain was an experience that I don´t have enough words for, I learned so much, not just about Spanish, but about life as well, it reinforced some ideas I had, completely destroyed others, and created new ones I´d never thought of before. I´ve definitely grown as a person from that experience and I hope it continues on in France.<br />
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I can now say that I've slept in a train station, and that my first 12 hours of France were spent memorizing the waiting room in the Charles de Gaulle airport train station. My flight over, was ok, not as great as the trip to Spain, but it wasn't the worst I've ever had. There were no problems, no lost luggage, no delays, nothing to make me worry about whether or not this journey was screwed like the rest of the planning stages of this trip. I have found out that I love train traveling, it's pretty phenomenal.<br />
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My host family is great, I get along with them so much better than my last family, which is a relief, and I get vegetables here. That along with having a dog here makes me believe my family here is full of saints. If I had the vocabulary to describe how happy both of these things make me, it'd take about 17 pages and everything would be in capitals with plenty of exclamation points. Part of my excitement might also be from the fact that the dog is a Bichon-Friese (which is basically just a tiny poodle, and I don't even care if it's spelled right), and that's a pretty stereotypical French dog. And if you know me, you know how much I love a good stereotype coming true.<br />
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My host dad is hysterical, and actually talks to me, which is a bit of a difference from my last one, he makes sure I understand what he's saying, and he tells the best jokes. My host sister is nine and she's so excited to spend time with me, it's a great feeling. She loves helping me with my French, and it's nice to have a living dictionary around to help me study. She's also one of the sweetest kids I've ever met, and she talks so fast!! But I already feel like I can understand French better, and I've only been here 24 hours, just don't ask me how my speaking fares. Coming from Spain has made me horrible at French, in the 24 hours I've been here, I've replied at least 10 times in Spanish when my host family asks me a question, then I have to pause for 5 minutes until I can figure out how to say it in French. But they work with me, and I actually feel comfortable here.<br />
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The only downsides that I've discovered so far, are that I have to take showers at night (which isn't so bad, it's just that no one will see me with my hair down), and that I can't walk to school because it's a bit too far to make it in under 30 minutes, and I like sleep, so...yea. I also think that I have school on Friday's, which makes me want to cry, because I'm not used to actually having real school schedules after Spain. I'm planning on traveling a lot, starting this weekend. So we'll see how that goes, and whether or not I have to cry home to mom about finding some extra living money somewhere. I'm really starting to think that France is going to be a better time than Spain was. Which is exciting considering how much I enjoyed it in hindsight.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-58515525670262481052012-10-01T08:34:00.002-07:002012-10-01T08:34:45.905-07:00Slow and steady wins the race.So, I've finally figured out how to get my phone to accept WIFI because I am really that special. But I think it's been one of my happiest moments here, because now I'm connected to everyone back home without the hassle of waiting for them to get online. While it doesn't sound like a big deal, it's kind of actually monumental. I have also remembered my stash of Datsik photos on my phone, and needless to say, it's slightly more bearable being away from him. However, when I get home he and I are going to have a force cuddle session for about 4 hours. Even if he doesn't know what's coming, I'm excited.<br />
However, my craving for cheetos has yet to go away, so I think while the force cuddling is happening, I might just have to feed myself large quantities of cheetos. It's amazing to me how you can miss something so much, not just people or animals but a food item, one you weren't even that crazy about before you left. It might also be the stress of filling out stuff for France next semester that's made me go a little past my normal level of crazy. I have also come to the conclusion that consulates are nothing but spy systems made up to monitor the country they are in. This is all it can be, because I find that the only valid excuse they have for not answering emails in a timely fashion. Either that or they've been abducted by aliens, but even I don't think that's true.<br />
On top of a major case of the munchies, a massive headache and an ulcer from stress, my brain refuses to focus on school work, especially when I have found a site that allows me to watch whatever movie I want when I want, and it's free. If only I had some cheetos for my movie marathons. But don't worry guys, I am still studying and I'm doing fairly well, it's just after I've been able to pry myself away from Facebook and Twitter where I've spent approximately three hours creeping on everyone I know, love, and miss like crazy.<br />
But now, I think I'm going to start a movie, and maybe take a nap, because baby be tired.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-69601479913521337742012-09-26T07:18:00.002-07:002012-09-26T07:18:37.203-07:00Just to reiterate the point that I have no sense of direction...Yesterday, I decided to hang out with a couple of friends, and college students have been known to do, and while we were 'chilling' (as the hip young minds of today would say) it started to rain. Now I love a good walk in the rain, it's in fact one of my favorite things to do. However, when it rains in Bilbao, it isn't really a slight drizzle, which is beautiful to walk in, it's kind of like a harder rain that never stops...ever.<br />
I wasn't worried by this, because we were in a place where the bus to pick me up stops at, which was great, it meant very little walking would occur, and I could remain dry.<br />
This only works if you get on the right bus. Now I got on the bus with the number I needed, I just got on the one going the opposite direction of where I wanted to be. So guess who felt like a champ? Now what's even better, is that while in Nebraska, when you take the wrong bus you can stay on it and ride back to where you made your mistake, and then get on the right bus. In Spain, you have to get off the bus at the last stop. Which means that I had to get off somewhere, where I had never been before, and then had to find something that looked familiar and hope that I knew how to get home. Which I successfully did, after about a 40 minute walk and a 15 minute bus ride. It sucked, but it was a nice learning experience, it taught me to never go anywhere by myself.<br />
However today made up for it, because I got ahold of my spanish exchange partner, and she seems super nice, and we are having our first meeting tomorrow, so I think that means I have my second official Spanish friend. (YAY ME!!) I also managed to walk up Satan's hill today in a pair of platform shoes, granted they're only like 2 inch heels, but it still counts, I've accomplished one of my goals. I also met a nice Irish boy, who sounds delectable when he speaks, and since I've seen him before at Deusto, it means I made my first Irish friend. (A REALLY BIG YAY ME) And later tonight, I'm going to a play, which I like doing, because I'm a classy bitch. I'm also going to chill with a friend before hand and have a lovely time that makes me feel better about me, because everyone needs someone like that. I hope you all are having a great day as well, and keep stalking my life, it makes me feel oober important.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-56466278322542730992012-09-24T10:51:00.000-07:002012-09-24T10:51:13.045-07:00I've now been a woman in SpainIf you don't understand the title, well then you probably aren't female. However, this explains a lot, as to why I've been so upset lately, and if I can just get through the next 4 days it will all be ok. I have found out that while it is impossible to find real cheetos in Spain, the cheetos puffs are almost the same, so someone needs to get on sending me cheetos through the computer.<br />
I still feel kind of uncomfortable with my host family, I can't tell if my mom's face is just one that looks somewhat angry, or if she's actually displeased with me. And right now, that's not a good thing, because it just makes me want to cry. BECAUSE I'M A GIRL THAT'S WHY. And I still miss my dog. I REALLY need to find a big dog, before I go and buy one. No joke. If someone could mail me Datsik, I'd appreciate it.<br />
I have decided that I shouldn't travel anywhere because I don't do enough homework when I travel. This creates time problems, because I never have enough time to waste on the internet. This weekend the game plan is to go to San Sebastian, which will have a film festival going on, and there's rumors of a good sized aquarium...CAN YOU SAY JELLYFISH BETCHES?!?! I'm somewhat excited for it. Maybe just a little.<br />
I think that's all I have for you fantastic people, besides the reminders that I'd like cheetos and my dog whenever you get the chance. Also, someone tell my grandma happy belated birthday, and give everyone all my love, there's currently an overflow of it, and I need it to get cleaned up :)J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-89597957323640141692012-09-24T10:44:00.003-07:002012-09-24T10:44:59.916-07:00Madrid and Toledo without the U.So this weekend we had an excursion planned by the school to go to Madrid and Toledo, which didn't go quite the way I'd expected, but it was still a good time. So children, let's start with the story time<br />
Friday morning I woke up at 6:20am, which is like the ass crack of dawn, to head to the bus terminal so that I could go take a five hour bus ride before touring the city. After the tour of the city we had free time until dinner, which was about 2-2.5 hours. Needless to say I went home and napped as soon as possible, because naps that's why. After about an hour of sleeping, it was off to dinner, which wasn't as impressive as the lunch was, and leaves me with nothing to describe to you. We did see the old royal palace though, which as you would expect, was filled with beautiful decorations that you couldn't take pictures of, along with tapestries and pictures, most of which cost more than I'll ever make in my life.<br />
After dinner I felt a little ill so I decided that I wasn't going to go out, Madrid or no, and my roomies for the weekend decided to stay in with me. So we did the typical girl thing, and chatted for around 3 hours like 10 year old girls. It was nice, especially when we were some of the few without massive hangovers for the Toledo tour.<br />
However, not all was well the next day. When I say it was seriously trying, I'm not joking. The only thing I could think about that day was how much I missed Toni and Datsik. I'm pretty sure everyone in our group thought my mom had passed or something. I was a mess, I wasn't speaking, and I almost cried, more than once. Even though, I managed to snag some great pictures (check le facebook for those, and if we aren't facebook friends, then I'm glad to know you like this enough to continue reading without photos). This moment also showed me that I do have some pretty great friends here who really do care about how I'm feeling, even if I'm not always bubbly and never-shutting-up. It's a good thing to know.<br />
Besides that, Toledo is gorgeous, and I'm seriously upset that we didn't get to spend an entire day there, I'm pretty sure if I travel anywhere, that's one of the places I'm going to go to (again), there was a gorgeous cathedral that I really want to see things of, without a Jesus fanatic preaching as to why her religion is right (to those of you who know me, you know I'm not the biggest believer in God, and while I'm tolerant of other's views, that only lasts so long when they're shoving it down my throat). We weren't allowed to spend any 'alone' time there though, which was a huge bummer, because there were a lot of things we didn't get to see.<br />
After Toledo's tour and a lunch, we returned to Madrid with the afternoon to ourselves, which means SHOE SHOPPING. And yes I did get a fabulous pair for only 9 euro, which ups my shoe collection here to around 10 pairs for only 35 euro. Yea, I kind of rock at this. After we finished shopping, we got to have more nap time before dinner, and after dinner, all the ladies got fabtabulously delectable and looked like rock stars. Not even joking. There have never been such stunning women in one group, I swear. We headed to the hottest club at 1am. I only partied for a few hours because I was still a little upset. But everyone else had a lot of fun, and they had some really amazing parts to that club. I might go back just to see if I enjoy it more when I'm in a better mood.<br />
The next day after about four hours of sleep, I went to breakfast, and found out we had to go tour an art museum, and that I was not, in fact, allowed to be in my pjs all day :(. So I went upstairs to do a last sweep check to make sure everything was all packed and to change into some 'real' clothes. This art museum was actually pretty amazing, and I plan on going back so that I can see all the pieces at my leisure, instead of a tour guides (although she was pretty fantastic at what she did, and it wasn't her fault we arrived late and only had a few hours scheduled with her anyway). The art there was so beautiful, a few were strange, but still beautiful.<br />
Now onto the reason why we were late, because the large majority of everyone went out the night before, there were a few people who were seriously hungover, now all of them but about one managed to be on time (or like 5 minutes late at the most) except for one kid, who seemed to think it was awesome that he almost got left in Madrid, because he was 25 minutes late. No joke. It was a bit past ridiculous, and our instructor was NOT pleased. It wouldn't surprise me if he's put on probation with the school because of it.<br />
But that doesn't matter, because it was basically a good time, in beautiful places with people I'll never forget, even if I'm missing home a bit more.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-22929485999736999692012-09-19T14:18:00.001-07:002012-09-19T14:18:15.336-07:00Besides the hills of SpainOne of the most difficult things I've had to adjust to is people's brusqueness. Now if you know me, I'm not the most subtle person on the face of the planet, there is a long line in front of me. But even I wouldn't say what some of the Spaniards say openly.<br />
For instance, like I mentioned in my last post I went with a friend to her doctor's appointment to act as an interpreter, well today we had a follow up. After he finished the check up and routine questions to make sure she was feeling better, he started going on about how her Spanish was bad, and she needed to work on it, which is true, but not something I would have said to some basically random person. If they asked maybe, but not outright, and especially not in the manner he did. It was just shocking.<br />
Another example is that my host mom keeps calling me fat. Now I know I'm not skinny and that I will realistically never fit into a size 2, and I'm ok with that. I like me, for the most part, as I am. On top of that, I've lost weight in the two weeks I've been here, nothing major like 100 pounds or anything, but enough that I can tell the difference with how my clothes fit me. Now my host mother is sweet, and I know she doesn't mean anything by it, she's just pointing out a fact. But as an American, I'm floored every time she does it, because we don't comment on people's weight to them, that's like social faux pas number one. The funny thing about this is, that if she were serious about me losing weight, she would stop feeding me so much food. Every lunch I eat at home, is a three course meal, and I'm not joking about that. I get a pasta or salad first, then a meat course with some other side, and like half a loaf of bread. That's a normal lunch. Now I'm not complaining about the amount I get, because if you know me, I LOVE TO EAT. It's kind of like my best skill, besides being awkward, making situations inappropriate, and creeping people out. So eating this much food is fine by me, I just want my ama to stop commenting on my weight if she's not going to do anything to help me thin myself down.<br />
ON A POSITIVE NOTE: I have now walked up Satan's hill two days in a row without having to take a break, and today I did it after playing an hour of soccer (granted I was the goalie and failed epically, but it was a fun time, and I was still somewhat active).J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-37374318331925691202012-09-18T08:11:00.000-07:002012-09-18T08:11:07.814-07:00I'm having the best week ever basicallySo to start it out, this weekend, with all the clubbing, my ama (host mom) gave me a couple of the nicest compliments anyone has ever said to me. Being that I'm the best non-hispanic Spanish speaker she's ever hosted, and that I constantly look gorgeous when I go out. Both of these coming from a Spanish woman, are pretty damn encouraging things.<br />
I finally started my last class yesterday, and it was by far the most fun I have ever had in a class in my life, and yes Julia, if you read this, that means it beats Chris in French class. We basically just played games and did activities to mejorar our Spanish, and get to know each other.<br />
Also yesterday, I went with a friend to a Doctor's office because she needed help translating, and as Superwoman, it's kind of my job to help those in need. While we were there, we had to wait a ridiculous amount of time to be seen, like over an hour, which was like I said ridiculous, but oh well. So when we got in to see the good Doctor, I whipped out my Spanish vocab and was like "bam, take that bro, I'm like a native!" Not really, but we got the point across, better than expected, and we got her the meds she NEEDS to be on, that last bit is a joke, he just prescribed her large quantities of Ibeprofuen, and yea screw spelling that word correctly. But the really awesome part of this was that the medicine man complimented me on how well I speak spanish...SO BAM. Two compliments on how amazing I am in less than a week. Spain loves me, and I'm never leaving.<br />
Then today, I was talking to one of the guys who has an apartment without a host family here, and got the clearance to go over with a friend and cook. Which is something that I'm ecstatic about, because I seriously miss it, and since Spanish women are territorial about kitchens, this is kind of fantastic news. Besides that, I got a confirmation email about some paper work for my going to France next semester, that was such a relief to receive. And the piece de resistance (since we're talking about France here) I walked up Satan's hill without stopping today. I am officially a BAMF, and all you peons shall bow before my awesomeness.<br />
Needless to say I'm celebrating my good fortune by eating whatever amount of sweet delicacies I can buy with 10 euros.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-7607494255240523242012-09-16T11:30:00.000-07:002012-09-16T11:30:13.898-07:00THE weekendSo as you can tell, I've been slacking off a bit with this blog, because I have school and nothing new or interesting to say. But after this weekend, I have a megapost to make you guys. The only problem is to remember all the details from the past four days. But for you, I'll do my best.<br />
Thursday night, the kids from CIDE (which is the office here in Spain in charge of dealing with the group of students that I'm in) were put on the VIP list to a club in Bilbao, Erasmus World. And this place was awesome, there was a bar downstairs and an air conditioned one upstairs with like a little lounging area. Not to mention they had gogo dancers stripping. Which no one knew about or expected, so the Americans in the club were kind of like "what the hell is this magical land?" And on top of that, all of us CIDE girls were looking fabtab and fine. You'll either have to take my word for it or go check out facebook, because I didn't have my camera on me all weekend, and so I have no proof to back up my claims.<br />
However as a tip, for those of you who are on the same or lesser intelligence level as me, I have some advice. When you go to a club, keep your shoes on the whole time, and if you can't do that in heels don't wear heels. I could not do that, and because of that, ended up getting three small slices on my feet and a couple shards of glass embedded into the sole of my foot, which I didn't realize there was actually glass in it until today, and having to open up a somewhat healed cut to dig around in it is painful.<br />
Although I didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked, because I had to help a friend get home, and I wasn't about to let her walk around Spain at 3am by herself, I still managed to have a pretty fantastic time. And there was only minor quantities of alcohol involved, so my liver was happy as well.<br />
Friday night was also spent at a club, and while this one wasn't as tiny and intimate as the one from the previous night, it was still one hell of a good time. However, I had a few more problems this night than just a few cuts on my feet. One of the girls I went with was nice enough to hold my phone and little coin purse with all my money, keys, and tickets for the bus/metro. Well, I misheard her while she and another girl were talking, so I managed to snag my coin purse before she took off, but since I didn't realize she was actually leaving to go back home, she left before I could get my phone. Although this wasn't such a huge deal since I don't have any minutes left on it, and only had it for the numbers stored in it.<br />
So after having this minor problem, you'd think I'd have figured out to keep my stuff on me, well, if you know me, you know how ridiculous of an idea that is. So, I asked a friend if I could borrow their pocket to put my little wallet in, and he said yes. So then I was like ok, just chilling out, getting a little buzz of my friend Sailor Jerry, having a good time. Well this friend and a few others from the group decide they want to get their spanish on, so they go outside to meet some señoritas. Well I start to freak out a little because like the previous situation, I don't know exactly where he is, or what his plans are, so when the three guys he was with come back in, and he's still outside I get a little bit worried, especially since they hadn't been with him, and didn't know where he was either. So I wait a few more minutes and try not to freak out, because you have to have faith. Well a little while later I walked back to the doors after distracting myself with a few dances, and I see a couple girls walk back in, and I ask if they'd seen him. Those lovely darlings, had and then walked me over to where he was so that I could get my wallet, which I (smartly) kept for the rest of the night in my hand.<br />
The rest of the night was spent sweating out every drop of water/alcohol I had in my system, and I had such a good time doing it. I got to meet one of the kids from my group's host brother, who was pretty phenomenal and one hell of a good time. I'm seriously hoping we get to party with him soon, because he and his friends are crazy awesome. We called it quits at around 6am and decided to leave before the rest of the club cleared out, and the remaining five of us took the metro home.<br />
Last night was supposed to be a continuation of the dance festival that was going on, but since no one was sure how to get to the beach this big dance-a-thon was at, our group got split up, I was one of the five who decided to stay in Algorta and drink at an Irish pub. I have tasted Guiness and can say that while it is way better than most American beers, and that it kicks the shit out of Heinekin, it's not my favorite thing to drink, at all. Anyway, this night was probably my favorite so far, it might not have been wild with any crazy stories (at least not ones that I care to share with the world), but it was nice to just chill with a few decent people and talk about everything and anything. I may have been slightly obnoxious, but to anyone who's actually been with me while I'm happily buzzed and on the verge of drunk, knows I get this way. Just ask my darling Becca. Anywho, I made pacts that I happily remember, got enough hugs to last me until tomorrow, and made what I consider to be some pretty good friends. All in all it was a fabtab weekend, and I'd like to have something like last night repeat at least once every weekend, just for a relaxed good time.<br />
Today has been spent sleeping, watching movies, eating, and doing homework. Which is how I wish the rest of life were, I'm going to be so spoiled by the time this semester is actually over...J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-44250215091958786332012-09-11T15:27:00.002-07:002012-09-11T15:27:27.302-07:00Lacking a creative titleSo, I've noticed that during the week, I don't have a lot to blog about. This is basically because nothing interesting happens during the week, besides my spanish teachers deciding they don't want me to have a chance to party during the week.<br />
However, I can tell I'm getting more in shape, I don't feel like passing out every time I reach the top of Satan's hill any more, and I spend less time at the midpoint break area. This makes me excited, although I have gotten my fair share of blisters because cute shoes and this hill do not get along :( and the only weight it's making me lose is from my boobs. IT'S NOT FAIR.<br />
Tomorrow however includes a nice shopping trip, and probably some eating of "american" food, in order to deal with a little bit of homesickness. And if I'm lucky I'll find some nice spanish person who will let me play with their dog.<br />
But more on that later.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-31330936603020213902012-09-10T14:30:00.001-07:002012-09-10T14:30:34.761-07:00The End of the Honeymoon StageIt's finally starting to sink in that I'm not a tourist here for a week, and that I'll be here awhile. I'm really starting to miss Datsik, and I don't really know anyone with a dog yet so that I can go and visit them for some real puppy love. I really want some Ranch dressing, and I'm about ready to stop eating anything that my host mom puts salt in. I don't have any of my close friends here, and I haven't made anything but party buddies so far, and it makes me a little sad. I don't know what to do with myself during all the free time I have, because classes haven't started to give out homework yet, and like I said, I don't have any close friends yet to just go and chill with.<br />
However, I have found a delicious gelato store, that I can find without a problem, and as long as I can get to Casco Viejo, I can find numerous shoe stores for some seriously needed retail therapy, because shoes that's why. I haven't cried yet from my homesickness, but I know it's bound to happen soon. This means that I should stock up on more chocolate and soon, just to be prepared.<br />
This studying abroad thing is both easier and harder than I thought. I'm fine with the class loads and talking in spanish all the time, but I miss the small things that remind me of home, like I'd never thought I'd be sad to see so little grass. I like being in such a busy place, but I hate that I don't have a best friend here to enjoy it with me. I know that I can still talk to everyone back home, but it's not quite the same as being in their presence. I guess that means all you people from back home should feel super loved.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-29112263987138666602012-09-09T06:08:00.001-07:002012-09-09T06:08:44.753-07:00It's a beautiful thing that Bilbao has a seriously top notch organ transplant systemBecause after this semester I think I'll need a new liver. These Spaniards are locos! I don't know how they can party this hard every weekend, clearly I didn't practice enough back home. So let me tell you all about the last two nights I've had here.<br />
Friday night a few of us (like 9 people I think) met up at the plaza moyua, which is really pretty with a fountain and lots of flowers, and the organizer of this meeting wanted to go drink in a park. So we went to a store and some of the others picked up whatever they were drinking so that they could go crazy spanish style. Well after walking around for a while a place was found and people consumed their drinks.<br />
After a while a few of us got antsy because we wanted to go to a bar, instead of just chilling in a park, so we walked to Casco Viejo to find one. It was like a 20 minute walk until we found a bar that was open and we jumped at the chance to get some drinks finally. We had a great time, and we weren't even the loudest group in the bar, which is surprising because it was basically a group of around twenty students all around the age of twenty (a few other groups decided to join us in our revelry and merriment).<br />
We stayed at the bar until around 3 if I remember correctly, and a large quantity of photos were taken, all of them masterpieces if I say so. Anyway, after getting nicely liquored up, we went back to one of the guys apartment and continued on with our drunken party. We stayed there, just chilling and playing a few games until about 5 in the morning.<br />
A couple people stayed over because the metro closes down at 2 and don't open up until 6 in the morning. I however had to walk up Satan's hill, although I did convince someone to walk with me, for safety reasons. Although I felt kind of awful about it, because he didn't quite take me seriously when I said it was a really hard climb. Regardless I made it home safe, and we both got a work out, and he was rewarded with like four shots in one for his valiant gentlemanly behavior.<br />
The next day (saturday) was spent basically recuperating until around 8pm, because crazy awesome nights will do that to a person. Eventually a plan was hatched to go to a town that was having a street festival, and get crazy there. So a few of the guys from the Bilbao area headed to the metro to meet up with the Getxo gang, and then from there head to the fiesta.<br />
This place was packed when we arrived, there was no extra standing room on the metro ride over, and when we got to the town, everyone got off with us. It was so crazy and so much fun. I got a few free drinks, because I found the best bartenders, and a few drinks for way under priced. I guess it's about damn time this pretty face started putting in it's fair share of action. I learned how to say thank you in Basque, but I'm not even going to attempt spelling it. I also met a group of local women, who were pretty awesome. All the locals that I talk to say that I speak very well, which is good to know, because that means I speak awesome drunk spanish.<br />
We stayed at the fiesta until about 530 in the morning, then caught the metro to head back home. I walked up to my apartment by myself, and I didn't die, so I'm feeling pretty badass today. The only problem with that 'hill' is that walking up it when drunk makes you so sober, so that you can't fall asleep with a nice little buzz. Either way it was a damn good time.<br />
Nothing super adventurous is happening today, there might be a beach date, but most likely not, and I'm ok with this, because my body needs some TLC.J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-30076349730469863442012-09-07T12:37:00.001-07:002012-09-07T12:37:50.988-07:00The first friday nightSo last night was seriously fun. We went to a bar in Getxo where they flipped a coin and if you guessed the right side you got your drinks for free. I only managed to snag one drink, but there were a few people who got three for free. Most of us stayed there until two in the morning, and then took cabs back to Bilbao so that we could prepare for tonight.<br />
Today was our visit to the Guggenheim museum, and there were some really awesome pieces in there. Others kind of looked like finger paintings, but hey, to each their own. Anyway out front is one of the really awesome pieces, it's a giant dog covered in flowers, so like Clifford only a patchwork of flowers.<br />
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There was another piece, a painting of the sea, that was sort of blurred so that it looked like a fuzzy picture from a camera, I would have snagged a picture, but that was frowned upon, and I figured I should behave for at least the first few weeks here. Another really cool piece was a painting of this dude, lying on his back looking at a sky full of stars, I would have bought it, had there not been the issue of getting it home somehow, and finding a place where Datsik wouldn't eat it or destroy it. </div>
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After the Goog, i finally got a phone, so that way in case of an emergency I'm not stranded, and it was in perfect timing because I thought tonight I'd be going to an overnight party. However, nobody from my group of students wanted to go to that, so we're hitting a bar tonight instead, which is ok, I'm sure I'll be able to find local Spaniards at a bar just as easy as at a festival. And while I entertained the thought of going to the festival alone, I'm not crazy about being alone at 6 in the morning trying to get back to Bilbao by myself, I'm not that grown up. </div>
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And that's about all I have for now, I suppose it's time I finish getting ready to par-tay. </div>
J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-29226421888069630542012-09-06T11:35:00.000-07:002012-09-06T11:35:25.613-07:00I am writing this a half an hour before I leave for my first Spain party...so if it's brief you know why. Today was the first day of classes, and I've already decided which of my professors to adore for forever. His name is Francisco and he is hilarious, he's going to make my literature course less painful. I've also decided to slack hardcore and only take 12 credits, because I'm in Spain that's why. Other than that, there's nothing special to report about school, all the fun excursions are over for a while, there's the Gugenheim tomorrow, but that's tomorrow and not today. <div>
I'd like to mention the hill of Satan, because it's pure evil and is the best workout course for any American. It consists of probably a miles walk up like a 60 degree slope (I'm not for sure, I was always awful at geometry, all I know is that it hurts and it's the steepest thing I've ever had to climb). Well today, I had to go up and down that beast twice. Which is crazy ridiculous because it means I walk funny for the rest of the day because my muscles aren't used to the strain, BECAUSE IT'S A MILE OF HILL. Anyway, I think when I get back to the U.S.A. I'm going to create something like this and all the exercise junkies will go nuts about it, and I'll have college payed for.</div>
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Tonight I have my first party to go to, which I'm super excited about, because it's a party, and it's going to be around the same area with the fantastic sangrias, so I know what I'll be drinking tonight. I just hope it's going to be as good as expecting, let downs are never awesome.</div>
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AND DON'T WORRY I'LL TELL YOU ABOUT THE RESULTS TOMORROW.</div>
J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-72470734482843965522012-09-05T14:44:00.000-07:002012-09-05T14:44:00.410-07:00Getxo y PlentziaI wish that I could tell you that I got pictures of one of the coolest places I have ever seen, beaten only by the Blue Grotto on the Island of Capri, but I didn't because the batteries in my camera decided to die today. Which is more unfortunate than you can know, because the architecture of these places was phenomenal. When I say that they looked like miniature castles, I'm not exaggerating. It was so cool, it ties as one of the places I'd like to live as an adult.<br />
While we were there, we had the most fantastic lunch, I lack the words to describe the deliciousness that I was able to put into my mouth today. It was some type of fish over buttery scalloped potatoes, and it beats anything in my life I'd ever eaten. I think I would entertain the idea of giving up sushi to eat this stuff more often.<br />
After lunch, we went and toured the area directly above the beach, and got to go to this cute little bar, where we could either stay or go directly back to Bilbao. Most of us elected to stay in Getxo, and drink some fabulous Sangria. It is the best drink I've ever had, it's so sweet it goes down just like water. After those, I tried this thing called a calimocho (I think), which is coke and red wine. I know it sounds awful, but it grows on you. All and all it was a pretty good day, although we did get lost after we got off the metro, but finding our way is getting a bit easier. One day, I'll be able to walk through Bilbao and know where I am.<br />
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Here are some pictures of the courtyard between all the apartment buildings where I'm staying and the view of Bilbao I get to look at when I walk to school. There's also pictures of the chapel in the university that I'm studying at along with a few pictures from Plentzia before my camera died.<br />
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<br />J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-71288509788224395202012-09-04T15:02:00.001-07:002012-09-04T15:02:25.740-07:00Casco ViejoToday was the first day at the University, we haven't started classes yet, it was just the first orientation session. After an introduction to the people at the school in charge of my care, a Spanish placement test that was waaaaaay harder than it should have been, and a two hour briefing about Bilbao and the school, we moved our group of international students on to lunch. Now, if you know me, you know I've never been really fancy and I'm ok with this. I wish I would have taken pictures of the restaurant I ate lunch at today. If you think I'm exaggerating when I tell you that it was the fanciest place I've been to, here's a fun fact: the entire bathroom was made of marble. MARBLE. It was a multiple course meal, and it even had all the fancy little forks, spoon and knife awaiting to be used. And again I'm regretting not whipping out my camera to take pictures. We had a pasta con salsa de tomato con carne (basically noodles with meat sauce) which was fantastic. The sauce was so much more excellent than the Ragu I'm used to back in the states. After the pasta, we were served some pollo asado con papas fritas (grilled chicken with french fries) and an optional cheese sauce, which was also phenomenal. And my favorite part of the meal was the postre....because who doesn't freaking love chocolate and cake and cream? Lunatics, that's who. I was the only one to finish my plate of dessert at my table, and I see no shame in this. IT'S CAKE. <div>
After we finished our lunch, we went on a small tour of Bilbao, basically to the Casco Viejo (the old downtown) and then to the more modern current downtown. The Casco was so beautiful, they had so many plazas filled with flowers, and the architecture is amazing. In Bilbao, if you live in the Casco, you are required by law to keep the facade exactly as it is, you aren't allowed to alter it, except with paint, but at all costs the facade must be kept up. Almost every apartment there has an ironwork balcony, because Bilbao was/is known for it's mine and iron work, amongst other things. </div>
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Along with some fabulous views, the Casco is home to about 75 shoe stores. Basically I have found heaven. If I hadn't been on a tour, and if the shops weren't closed for lunch, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have any money left in my accounts for the rest of the semester. Our teacher/guide also told us about some fantastic bars to hit up down there, which are supposed to have fantastic pinchos. </div>
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After this, we moved on to the more modern city centure, which made me love Bilbao even more. There are like gardens everywhere, you can find little parks to just sit and chill in everywhere. It's fantastic. As we were walking today, there was like legitimately a secret garden hidden away in this alley with huge trees and a lot of different flowers, will I be able to find it again? Probably not, but at least I got to see it once. Anyway, down in the city center we got to see the main shopping street of Bilbao, which basically goes on for ever, and is filled with stores ranging from clothes to books to lingerie to food to MORE SHOES. </div>
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After we finished with the tour, the girl who is living in the apartment complex next to mine, and I walked home. Needless to say, I have had my first lost experience. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, and it was a fantastic learning experience. However, if you ever find yourself in the same situation, remember trust people with dogs and babies first, I don't have a real basis for this theory, but I feel like they'd be less likely to take your stuff. Anyway, we were only lost for about 5-10 minutes and hadn't had to really start panicking when we found our way back to the super mega huge ginormous incline that takes us back to our homes. I know understand how I'm going to lose 70 pounds in Spain while still eating the largest meals I've ever had. This city is built on a mountain, they might tell you a hill, but it's like no hill I've ever seen. You basically have to rock climb to get to the top. Needless to say, there was a break taken in the middle of the slope so that I could live to die another day. </div>
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But the best thing I have learned today, is that there IS diet coke in Spain. Now I don't need to give up my addiction after all. </div>
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Some lovely photos from today.</div>
J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-13861091816507170692012-09-03T14:46:00.001-07:002012-09-03T14:46:28.932-07:00Taking Europe by Storm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: left;">At approximately 11:30 yesterday morning (holy cow has it really been that long?!) Javier Fernando Guillermo Torres Fidel Hernandez the third (that adorable little llama fellow in the picture) and I started our adventure of flying over the Atlantic to get to Spain, where I'll be studying abroad for what seems like a lifetime now that it's finally started. Mumsy walked me down to the security checkpoint, where I proceeded to bawl like a baby, because I love my mother oh so much, and would have very much loved to shove her into my carry on so she could come with me, and yes, I would have given her some air every now and again. Once she started to get far enough on the wrong side of the line to cause some TSA members to panic, we hugged and said good bye. Which then made me cry harder, because I'm just that big of a boss. So Javier and I made it through the TSA screening, and I made no inappropriate comments, and the screening wasn't even as bad as I was expecting. </span></div>
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Waiting in the terminal was probably one of the most nerve wracking experiences I've had, which either says that I'm never going to be good in a strenuous situation, or I have easily affected nerves, guess there goes my career as a spy. The flight went smoothly and the person I sat next to just so happened to be pregnant. Now if any of you have met me once, you probably know about my obsession with being pregnant/babies. So this woman had to be like 5 months along, with a beautiful baby bump that was ripe for the stroking (and if that doesn't make you cringe, you've clearly spent too much time with me). I however did not touch her stomach, because I have the willpower of something with a lot of freaking will power. </div>
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After arriving in Chicago, I got to see what a real airport should look like, which of course include large quantities of sushi bars. I went directly to my terminal, bypassing the sushi - which also happens to be another serious feat for me, and had a short wait. On this flight though, I was in for a treat, though. But first I had to deal with a non-treat. This flight was the only one where I have to say I had seriously bad luck with seating. I was the first one in my row and had managed to get a ticket with the window seat, so I was under the impression that I had won the lottery. However, I was soon proven wrong when my seatmates boarded. It was a mother and her son, and they were not fabtab. Firstly the son wouldn't stop whining about how the lady checking people in was being such a bitch about making him check his instrument, that was worth more than she made in a year and blah blah blah blah poor me. Like I get you're upset bro, and I'm sure that if you hadn't acted like an asshat things might have gone smoother for you, but calling someone a bitch who is simply trying to do their job, and having to deal with an offensive person on top of that, is just not ok. On top of this, his mother who was sitting next to me, took off her shoes, which while it bothers me, fine that's ok you're in your space, decided to remove them from her space and move them into mine. Which is when the 'eff this noise bro' mode kicked in and I decided a nap was in order. When I awoke some 30 minutes later, the man/boy/child was still whining about how unfairly he was treated. </div>
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In order to distract myself further, I started the best airplane game ever, called let's eavesdrop. During this game, I found out that two of the girls on the plane sitting close by were also doing the same study abroad that I was. Which was great news, because who doesn't love back up in a new and scary place? </div>
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After landing, we became a group of survivalists, running through the wilderness of the Philadelphia airport trying to make it to our next destination. When we got to our terminal, we found the only group of three seats available and staked our claim on the new territory. While being all adult like and responsible we went and checked in for our longest flight of the day, and waited for the airline to start boarding passengers.<br />When the boarding time rolled around and then passed, nerves were awoken and the question of whether or not we would be able to make our final flight, which barely gave us an hour to get to the next terminal and check in. However, the airline was awesome, and had us all ready to go at only five minutes later than expected. While waiting to board, I met one of the coolest people on the planet, and I say this, because she is in a certain fashion similar to me.<br />Within the first 30 minutes of being next to each other, we had already managed to find the most awkward topic in the history of plane rides, and then expanded on it for over an hour. And while I feel slightly sorry for the other passengers around us, I don't care all that much, because it was the best eight hour flight of my life, and until the holy day comes, when someone releases an airplane horror porn, I will be disappointed (sorry for the faint of heart who decided to read this). On top of this and pigging out on the airline food/snacks we brought along, we watched some fantastic movies, and created a beautiful awkwardness for anyone within 3 rows/columns of seats. By far one of my fondest memories.</div>
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After the end of that fantastic part of the voyage, the other girls and I landed with 55 minutes until our next flight left. Along with the time shortage, a few of us didn't have our boarding pass needed for this flight. So we had to find the check in counter that could provide us with this necessity and then make it past the international checkpoint and go through security again. Needless to say we actually ran through the airport and were extremely frightened about missing the final flight before we could meet our families and take some seriously earned naps. But our luck held and we made it with just about 15 minutes to spare. The flight went smooth and we landed safe and sound in Bilbao without a problem. With only some minor confusion about where to get our luggage (none of which was lost, PRAISE BE TO JAYSUS), we were on our way to find our car from the university to meet our host families. </div>
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This is where we part days until tomorrow, where we will be reunited to take some tests and register for classes. I went home with my new mom and first father (WOOOO) to find out where I lived and to meet my sister. It's definitely been interesting, I'm not going to be as independent as I am back home. Which will take some adjusting, because, I like being in charge of me.</div>
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As a few hints to anyone who reads these and is considering going abroad, remember:</div>
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1. You do not know a foreign language nearly as well as you think you do, a class room setting is seriously different from the real world setting</div>
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2. Be prepared for different foods that might not be something you would ever look at and go, 'holy cow when do I get to eat this', instead be prepared more for a 'ok, it doesn't look like it's living, I've got this bro'.</div>
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3. Never try green cheese from Spain, no the color isn't green, but the taste is like that of a basement mixed in with some 15 year old's football bag mixed in.</div>
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4. Smile, you'll get more help that way.</div>
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5. Don't ever blame the person who is trying to do their job, it'll only cause you more problems and get you less help in the end.</div>
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6. Take whatever friends come your way, they make it a little less stressful.</div>
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In case you were curious to see more Javier and details, there you go.</div>
J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7529943118851826492.post-62288280650468602412012-09-03T14:11:00.000-07:002012-09-03T14:11:02.040-07:00The Weekend Before So, before I left for my trip to Spain, I thought I would have a going away party, so that all the people who adore the holy mother loving doody out of me would have an easy way to stop by and say good bye for the next few months. What I had not expected, however, was to be bombarded with such awesome gifts.<br />
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Firstly, you can see four big multi-bracelets which I've been oogling on a friend of mine's arm for quite some time. She clearly noticed, and decided that I should be able to accessorize properly while I was away from home.<br />
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The next few gifts are from my fabtab friend Liz, who managed to make me teary eyed by giving me the most random stuff. The bottle above is clearly a 5 hour energy, what the common observer doesn't get to see is that the bottle says "when you need a pick me up", which was one of about 6 items in my survival kit.<br />
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This one is pretty self explanatory, and you can just read the note, but still one of the sweetest things I've ever received.<br />
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Another fantastic present, because everyone knows there is really never a reason needed to drink (I promise I'm not an alcoholic).</div>
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One of the first movies Liz and I ever watched, which was kind of the beginning to like seven of our traditions, which I will dearly miss while I'm away.</div>
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This is kind of explanatory, but I just have to say, really? I've found that sexy someone, and you only give me ONE CONDOM?! Like that's not even funny guys.</div>
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Nuff said, although this one didn't make it to my bag, and my big fat aka my dog Datsik, ate this present.</div>
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This last one, is my all time favorite present ever given. It's a journal so that I can write down my entire experience and not miss a single thing to go back and reread/relive. On the inside are amazingly beautiful quotes and pictures of me and my family when I was little. It's just so absolutely amazing. And it's only one of the numerous reasons I've realized I am truly blessed with amazing people in my life. </div>
<br />J.C.,Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08914841162858691578noreply@blogger.com0