Alma de Color

Well, since I so love adventure, I decided to embark on another one. Last night, Erin was over using her computer, and we decided that since I hadn't been to the market yet, we should go. So, due to the brevity of time we would have to check it out before our first class, Escritura (writing, in English), we decided to be villainous and skip our first class. We agreed to meet at 8:45 to go early for a chocolate croissant at Pastelería Reina. However, I took my time waking up, and Erin still didn't show by 9:15, so I decided to go check on her. I rang the telepuerta twice, with no response. I almost turned back, but our landlady looked down from her terrace, asked if I wasn't getting a response, and said I should "insist". So I rang it again. A very sleepy Efi answered. She was, of course, technically supposed to be at a class way over at Espinardo at 9, but was evidentally not. Erin was still sleeping, so I woke her. Once she was ready, Efi decided to come with us,...

I didn't make it to chorus on Monday on account of the huge homework load I had. We had a ton of literature work to finish, as well as a big article to read for art history. Actually, I ended up skipping art history and sleeping for 4 hours. It was a GREAT sleep. I needed it. Erin and I went running for a record 17 minutes. Normally we run for 15. We ran for 17, and then we walked around for about 2-3 more hours, chatting. We had fabulous conversations. Tuesday, Erin and I went to check out a dance class near our flat. We danced salsa for an hour, with a bit of cha-cha-cha at the end. There were 3 guys, the instructor, and about 2-3 girls for every guy! Typical. :) One of the guys looks exactly like Russell Crowe. It's crazy. We went again to class on Thursday, and Laure came with. We had a female instructor this time, and we started with the cha-cha-cha. When we did some Cuban salsa, we were short on guys, so I got to take the guy part. The downside is that I still don't k...

10-14-06 This Wednesday night, we all headed to check out the opening night of a new club, Taboo, which is owned by the same guy who runs Badulake. It was interesting, and had more space than Badulake, but it was darker, smokier, the music seemed louder, and it was very predominantly populated by Scandanavians. Very interesting. There were about 5-6 GINORMOUS Swedes there. One was a girl, and the others were all guys. They stood about 2-3 heads taller than every single other person in the entire place. I think they might have even rivaled the Gibsons in height! Efi came with us, and she didn't much care for the dancing, and I got sick of the heat and the smoke, so we left pretty early compared to the others. We didn't have school on Thursday or Friday, so we rested on Thursday and then headed to the beach in Alicante on Friday. The bus ride is about an hour long, and much of the landscape reminded me a lot of southern Cali/northern Baja. We ate breakfast right in Alicante and t...

9-30-06 We finished our last module with Ana, which is a shame, because she is a fun professor. Now the real work begins. Laure, Iva, Galo, and I explored a bit and went out for drinks near the cathedral in a small café called Café di Roma. I had a drink called horchata which was great, and apparently is a sort of regional drink. Anyone ever hear of it outside of Spain? There were three musicians playing tangos in the plaza which really added to the atmosphere. I felt like I was in some movie. I returned home and ate tiramisu ice cream and watched some Spanish TV. What a life, eh? We had a dinner that we all sort of cooked together. I made apple pie and the other girls made a delicious seafood salad. It was nice to eat all together like a big family. 10-08-06 I have officially been in Spain for a month and a week! Crazy! When did that happen, seriously? The 2nd of October, we began classes for real. We had geography in the morning for 2 hours, 4 hours of language (2 hour...

Following class on Monday, a few of us went out for tapas at the same tapas bar, (Las Tablas), that we visited with Ana. I took a two hour nap after that, and then Laure, Iva, and I took a taxi to Media Markt to buy a router. However, upon bringing it back to the flat, we were unable to get it working. It needed an IP address, and ONO, our internet provider, wouldn´t give us one. I went to chorus for the first time with the chorale from the university. But it isn´t simply composed of university students. There are several individuals who are done with school and are set in their careers. I really enjoyed it. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. We visited three more museums on Tuesday. The first was Santa Clara. It began as an Arab palace back in the day, and was later converted into a nunnery-type place. So the lower part is a museum of the Arab palace and what it looked like before, etc, and the upper floor had religious art left over from the nunnery. It was a beautiful palace. Y...

A whole week has passed, and I am just now updating my journal. It was a busy, fun week. Cristina sqared, (both of my Spanish roomies are Cristinas, remember), took me to a new, gigantic shopping center...but it hadn´t opened yet, so we went instead to Carrefour. I didn´t plan on buying anything, really, but I found a green skirt made in Italy that was the last of its kind on the sale rack, and I tried it on and decided to get it. So now I have something rather comfortable and cool to wear during the day or when we go dancing. Iva, Anton, and I hung out most of the evening, and Anton and I sat out on the terrace chatting until 2:30 AM. It was his last night here. The following evening, Iva, Justin, Erin, and I went to watch Alatriste in the theater, as Wednesday nights are the cheap nights. It only cost 3.75 for ticket. It was a very violent movie indeed, and covered many years, and was at times hard to follow, but I enjoyed it. Erin and I went running after the movie and Iva...

9-10-06 Again, I cleaned up the kitchen this morning and then lounged about until Erin and Laura came. We ambled down to check out what was left of the fair. Afterward, we had a homework party at my house involving homework, of course! 9-11-06 Class doesn´t start until 10 AM now, as it seems some of the students think that 9:30 is too early. I would prefer the earlier time, as we could finish earlier, but I am a minority, and therefore have no voice in the matter. We ate breakfast during our 20 minute pause at this small pastry shop called Don Croissant. They have amazing pastries with chocolate or apples as well as some with meat and cheese. Kari, (pronounced car-ee), came over after a bit and I braided her hair. It looked awesome, but she wasn´t able to leave it in very long because it gave her a headache. Tsk tsk tsk. I guess braids are not for everyone. We had an awesome chat. Later, Laura, Erin, and I...(henceforth until there are more of us who hang out regularly, I shall call us...

9-6-06 Laura, the girl from Tennessee, was sick today, so Erin and I went to visit her, but she was sleeping, so we went grocery shopping with her roommate, David, instead. I didn´t do much more on this day, although a large group went out for the night and partied. 9-7-06 Not too many adventures today, although Erin and I went running at night, and explored a bit more of our "barrio". There are some very lovely residences in our neighborhood, and a few nice parks. 9-8-06 We talked about tapas today in class. These are little appetizers that one orders to eat while drinking beer or wine. Evidentally, some king made a law requiring them back in the day to minimize the effects of alcohol. I never knew this before, so it really interested me. We made a huge list of tapas in Murcia, and we defined each one. So now I actually know what I´m eating when I order "one of those..." :) Erin, Laura, and I suntanned a bit on my terrace after class, and chatted a little. Later in...

8-31-06 Day 1 of my adventure has begun! Thousands of dollars and many hours have transpired since I began, and now I am boarding my plane. It feels a bit strange to be finally leaving. After all that prep work, reality swoops in and drives home the unexpected. Truly, there is no turning back. My cousin Mark got married this weekend, and the rehearsal luau was on Friday night. I spent most of my afternoon trying to contact people concerning my yet uncleared visa. I gave up for the night and went to the luau. Laura trimmed my hair on Saturday and she and Daron braided it. Sunday was a lovely time to say goodbye to the "gob", (my friends in Butte area). We went to Melaques for lunch and I bid them farewell. I had to cancel my flight and book another, which cost almost 3x what my original ticket cost. My visa actually just arrived yesterday morning. It was a good delay, however. I actually fel like I had everything ready to leave. Everything except my brain. 9-1-0...

6/18/06 Mmm…just downed a cinnamon roll and some Minute-Maid orange/tangerine juice. Not a bad road trip breakfast. Mom and I are headed down to San Francisco after months of paperwork and preparation. Both of us worked yesterday, and I still had a bit of paperwork to take care of, so we left Divide about 7:30 PM. We spent the night at Penny and Coop’s. We hit the road again just before 7 AM, and have been driving ever since. We stopped in Twin Falls for food, and now are on 93 S to Wells. The sun is out, the tunes are jammin’…. 6/20/06 Oi vey. The pavement is a little chilly but otherwise the weather is tolerably amiable, although it was warmer at 4:40 AM. Yep, that’s right…I’ve been here on the sidewalk by the consulate since early this morning, although, technically, it’d only be 5:40 AM in MT. There are roughly 20 of us at this point, from all locations across the US , waiting for the Spanish consulate to open. Following my entry on the 18 th ...