Alma de Color

This summer heat is melting me. And as I was waiting for my eye appointment at 3:00 today, I decided to make a trip to one of my fav restaurants for breakfast/lunch. I arrived at La Tinga, ordered a burrito con pollo y salsa verde. I had forgotten how intense the burrito is. I have a very high spicy food tolerance. When we were down in Mexico, I ate some food that was making others cry, and it didn't bother me a wit. This burrito, however, was very, very spicy. I loved it as it burned every pore in my mouth, esophagus, and stomach. Anyway, I washed it all down with some lovely jamaíca tea and headed back to the XA house for a bit of work. I had spent the morning visiting my grandma and giving her a haircut. Back at the house, I did some work around the house, played a few tunes, and was just about to leave for my eye appointment when I accidentally touched the corner of my eye. Instant fiery, torturous pain shot through my iris and cornea, and whatever else feels pain in ...

My last night at the Blue Moon was last night. Rather sad, really, but necessary. The month of July was looking pretty crazy, so I put in my notice. Hopefully, now I can finish what needs to get done this summer. Also, yesterday, Laura, Dad, and I cleaned out our tack shed. When I was little, no one was even able to get in the door because of all the junk stored there...(didn't used to be a tack shed--back in the day it was a blacksmith shed)...and then we cleaned out part so we could store equine gear there. We finally started loading stuff in the back of the truck to head to the dump, and in the process, we discovered various and sundry pieces of history. We also found a lot of JUNK! I had to work before we finished, and by the time I returned, it was completely cleaned out and VERY beautiful. I love it when progress on any project or goal becomes so increasingly visible as the task goes along. And you know, I was pondering the thought that the tack shed is much like ou...

Well, friends, you can add another thing to the list of things-Kristel-and-everyone-who-knows-her-never-thought-she'd-ever-do: I'm bartending this summer! Yep, I got a bartending/waitressing job at the good 'ole Blue Moon Saloon in Divide, so I am able to walk or bike to work if I leave on time. Other than arriving home smelling like cigarette butts on occasion, I really do enjoy the job. I like meeting the people, trying to figure out how to make all the drinks, waiting tables--almost everything is enjoyable to some degree. The best part is that my schedule is flexible enough to allow for all my other summer activities. For one, I got the house director position at Chi Alpha House, (NOT a Greek organization, I would like to point out), for this year, so I come back to Bozeman every week for house dinner/maintenance/hanging out/whatever needs to be done. Chi Alpha is a Christian group I've been a part of for four years...sort of like youth group/church for college...

A couple Chi Alpha (XA) meetings ago, Rod called me over to the sign up table, and I signed up for an event that I wasn't too sure about. In fact, I sort of forgot about it briefly. I had no clue what I was getting myself into, but I'm glad I did. :) I met up with my team of four other members last night at 7ish and we ambled on over to Shroyer Gym to see what was up. We all got t-shirts and a team bandanna. There were 16 total teams. We began with the egg toss, filled a cup with water using a bucket of "moose blood" (aka water with red food coloring...sick moose, I can tell 'ya!), sudoku, an obstacle course over/under flags and through cones on a tricycle...wearing beer goggles, the equivalent of DDR with a guitar, dodgeball...(no wrenches)...sucking jello through a forked tube, eating baked beans with a toothpick, wheelbarrow races with 5 crackers and whistling at the end, Scattergories (my fav), shooting hoops, and the final test between the top 6 teams...

We drove to Chief Joseph ski area down by Lost Trail yesterday. The weather was gorgeous! Mom's bday was on the 9th, and she wanted to go skiing, so we did...on the 10th. Jason and Laura met us there a little after noon, and we headed out on a snow-day adventure. We picked random trails to explore and I tried to practice technique...since I seriously lack all ability in this area. :) Dad and Mom gave me pointers on skating and gliding right, although the gliding thing I have a hard time with the timing. Oh well, it was awesome anyway. My skis are borrowed at the moment, although Laura found me some sweet skis for cheap, and some awesome poles on sale. Just waiting on the boots. Anyway, the skis I used were waxless, and had some serious kicker action...just not too much glide. We hadn't put any Alpina wax...(speeds things up a bit)...so I could go up hills with no effort...but had to practically push myself DOWN them! After a few hours of exploring, we wrapped it up,...

Hmmm, well, warp to a new time in my life. I am no longer in Murcia...*shedding silent tear*...but I am content here in Montana in the 2 degree (-16.7 degrees C) weather with snow storms almost every night and some days. The snow is breathtaking. After I got back to Montana in December, I had a whirlwind month of family and friends, you know Christmas time. When we all get together, laugh and tease, drink hot cocoa and eat sugary sweets and cherish the time we have together. Seth and a very pregnant Caia came back from his Air Force base in North Carolina, and Jason and Laura came home for a bit. We all went skiing/boarding as a family like last year. Great times. I was job searching, (I was not returning to MSU-Bozeman this semester), when my grandma had a stroke. She had been the primary caregiver for my grandpa, and when she went down, a big caregiver-gap was created. So that's what I'm doing now. I am living up Bridger Canyon about 11 miles, living like a 24/7 nur...

11-30-06 The first leg of our great adventure began rather early this morning. But first, I will tell of a bit of the prep, as much of my stay here in Murcia came to a close in the last few days. Wednesday night, after class and grocery shopping for the trip, I returned home where all five of us roomies prepared our last dinner together. The two Cristinas left the following morning, so we had one last hoorah which lasted rather late. I woke up early the next morning to go to the market one last time. We rushed back to class at 10, printed off a few last minute documents at the locutorio, finished packing, and rushed to meet Laura, Charlie, and David at Laura and David's apartment. Together, we walked to the train station and hopped on the one to Barcelona. It was just over 7 hours, and, although there were two pesky drunk guys who paced back and forth the ENTIRE TRIP, I really enjoyed the train. We played MASH, chatted, and I watched two movies (in Spanish of course). We w...

I went to try to get my bus tickets to the Alicante airport for Friday morning on Thursday afternoon, only to find that no buses run at that time. So I had to take a taxi. It was expensive, but it wasn't a bad way to travel at 3:30 AM. The taxi driver was very amiable, and we talked about the region, changing values among the different generations, agriculture, etc., the whole drive. It was raining outside, so it took a little longer due to poor visibility. At the airport, nobody was moving, so I slept on a bench for about 45 minutes, when things started opening up. I got my boarding pass, ate a croissant, cafe con leche, and a chocolate milk for breakfast...(at 5:20 AM)...and then passed through security and such so I would be ready for my flight to board sometime after 6:20 AM. I slept the odd hour to Madrid, where the sun was up and normal people where up and about their daily lives. I didn't feel like sleeping exactly, even though I only had cat naps since 6:45 AM on Thursd...

So...Erin and I went running Monday. Yep. That's great. We took a new route, too. This new route took us by the soccer field that we run by after dance class all the time. All the guys were out there, practicing as usual. It was a fine night for soccer. So when the guys "accidentally" kicked the ball out of bounds...over the 13-15 foot fence...I thought, "Ahh, yeah! Great time to show these Spanish guys what American girls can do". So ran over across the grass to retrieve the escapee. I ran back to the sidewalk, and that's when time slowed. It was cinematic, really it was. I poised myself for the best throw-in ever, moving toward the fence...arms behind the head...dragging the toe...dragging the toe.......SPLAT! I tripped. Flat on my face. In front of the entire football team. Yep. Smooth move, Exlax! The ball didn't even go over the fence. Nope, it bounced back at me, lying there on the chortling ground, mocking me. And then I promptl...

This weekend was my 22nd birthday. And what a birthday it was! I had originally planned to go to Granada with the rest of my classmates, but I had a nasty cold, so I decided to remain in Murcia. Laure and I went out exploring on Saturday afternoon, as I wanted to find an art store that I had seen in previous walks. However, we never did find it...(later, I discovered that we didn't find it on purpose)...but we did find Sirvent. I had strawberries in whipped cream and she had fruit with whipped cream. Both were amazing. We found many new streets and discovered that we liked Murcia even more. It's such a quaint place. We collected Iva later that afternoon and went out to dinner at Gran Mundo, a Chinese place downt the street. Good stuff! We went out after dinner for a stroll. We went to the plaza by the cathedral and they sang me happy bday when I was actually born. That was cool. We decided to get a warm drink, and were deciding where to sit when a sweet music drif...