The last moments

I don't have a Twitter. However, I felt some twitter-like inspiration on the last leg of my journey back home from Spain in late May.

I had a notepad with me and decided I would write random thoughts down as they happened. I just found this notepad while cleaning my room and realized that I didn't post any of this here on my blog.

Before I write this, I wish I had written "tweets" about the "morning" before traveling. I put quotes around "morning" because I had to leave my host family's house at 4:30am. I ate dinner as usual the night before around 10pm, then said goodbye to Rocio before she had to go to sleep around 11:30. Carlos stayed up, watching TV, while I sat in my room and packed my bags until 2am. Thinking that I should get SOME sort of sleep before leaving, I took a nap until 4am, then made sure Carlos woke me up if I wasn't in the kitchen by 4:10am. Luckily he didn't have to, and I ate my "breakfast" then got ready to leave.

I remember that the first thing on my mind at the moment was how much I would miss my host family and my Alicante home in which I had lived for the previous 5 months.

The second thing that was on my mind was how I would miss the live broadcast of the series finale of LOST, which would be at 6am Spain time. It was devastating, really.

Anyways, on to the "tweets," which are un-twitterlike in their order, because I wrote them in the order they occurred, the newest posts at the very end.


May 25, 2010
(Alicante airport)
6:15am: Just saw a guy make the last call for boarding on his flight. He ran to the gate and chucked his papers at the flight attendant, in a rush.

6:18am There seems to be 2 types of people at the airport: those with some sense of style, and those who equate "travel clothing" with "mountainous terrain clothing."

6:20am There is a woman dragging her duffel through the airport. Someone needs to tell her it doesn't have wheels.

(Madrid airport)
8:55am You know Security's having a good day when they are whistling Duran Duran.

9:04am Airports everywhere are collections of people looking around aimlessly and being confused.

9:15am Asked if the toy store clerk would take a picture of me and a lifesize cardboard cutout of Pocoyo. He said taking photos isn't allowed. Jerk.


Pocoyo.

9:35am I just got abnormally excited for a tortilla bocadillo. I'm gonna miss those.

9:36am Received a plastic cup for my squirt-top Evian watter bottle. Way to be wasteful, Spain.

9:45am Just got a call from Katie [Blubaugh]. It was a much-needed surprise after not talking to anyone in the past 5 hours.

10:15am Why is that man holding a woman's legs in the air at the bookstore? Oh, I just noticed 2 EMTs leaning over her. Sure took me a while.

10:20am I am BALLIN' with $400 cash. Looks like funny money after a semester of dealing with a rainbow of bills.

10:25am Why does the Chupa Chups machine appear to me now, when I am fresh out of Euros?!?!

(on Madrid-Chicago flight)
7:15pm Snack box time on the plane! Unfortunately, due to orange allergies and refusal to eat marbled deli meat, I only scrounge the 1-inch candy bar and small palmeritas cookies.

(Chicago)
2:30pm Back in the good ole US of A: where sedate people ironically wear athletic clothes on a daily basis.

Tenth Radio Broadcast!

I felt like the Spanish never enforced the law. Either that, or they didn't have laws. They drink in the streets, the kids don't have curfew, the cops don't enforce drug laws, etc etc.

This broadcast talks all about law.

Song: "I fought the Law"--The Clash

Ninth Radio Broadcast!

Living with Lola the dog was something new for sure, since I never had a pet in my life. The way Spaniards treat their dogs and how they walk them around without leashes inspired my ninth show on pets...which are called "Mascotas."

I have a couple interesting things to say about this broadcast...

You would wonder what they call mascots...they call them "mascotas" also. Although, mascots truly are an American concoction since their sports really don't have mascots.

The song used is "The Underdog" by Spoon. They don't have a translation for an underdog because it really doesn't exist. They don't have that cultural idea of surpassing mediocrity to get to greatness. That's an American concept.

Eighth Radio Broadcast!

Clearly schooling was different in Spain. Not just the education, but the culture of how to address teachers, how to dress in class, or whether or not it's okay to eat!

Here is my 8th radio broadcast on schools.

The song is "Me and Julio Down by the School Yard" by Paul Simon (one of my faves!).

Seventh Radio Broadcast!

I finally got around to uploading more of my radio shows. Not all of them are up yet, but at least I got to number 10!

Loly (the radio director) suggested I do one about women, since it was women's month in March. So here is my 7th broadcast, on women.

The song is "Just a Girl" by No Doubt.

Recording my Radio Show

Here is what the studio looks like, and here is me recording my final segment.

This is out of order because I plan to post the rest of my radio shows on here for you to hear.

However, I didn't want to forget that I had this clip, so here you go...

Okay. I'll let you in on it, too.

My best friend in the entire program, Carly, left on Friday to see her brother in Sicily and travel around with him before she goes home.

But for me, it was the final day I'd get to see her...until hopefully my graduation party this summer.

It was a very sentimental goodbye, and I wanted to make her a video with all the crazy footage I got of her, because she was the star for a majority of it.

I originally made the video unsearchable, but that proved to be difficult to view for some reason. I made it public on Youtube, and since I made it public there, I figured I'd share it with you all here.

Now, there is a lot of inside jokes in the video, some of which I will try to explain below:
-The "classy as fuck" line by me refers to how we would sometimes use "as fuck" in inappropriate ways, so as to ruin the classiness of the sentence. "That baby is as cute as fuck" and "this is sentimental as fuck" are some examples.
-My dancing: we always wanted to make a dance/sing video but it never was made. Plus, I know how many times Carly acted like a fool on camera for me, so I wanted to reciprocate. Also, the "check out my bum" line was intentional in that sometimes I would accidentally brush up against her butt and she would joke that I was checking her out.
-"This is as exciting as balls" was the same as the "as fuck" line...just a little more strange, and based on how someone we knew talked
-The bus driving away: The actual last time I ever saw Carly...on her bus to Valencia.
-Carly's comments about booze and weed were exact quotes from two of the guys we were walking to the bars with. They were so ridiculous that Carly wanted to mock them on camera.
-Carly mouthing "fuck you! fuck you all!" was in reference to the fact that she, melanie, and I were secluded from the group when we went to the beach. I panned the group (who were all facing away from us) and Carly shared her innermost sentiments.
-The pic of me and Carly staring into eachother's eyes was based on a music video of Bono and The Edge playing in the bar we were at.
-Me feeding carly in cooking class: We stole half the bag of chocolate chips and I would snack on them when no one was looking. When carly was busy chopping, I had to feed her.
-Carly's odd crisscross runway walk: based on an episode of America's Next Top Model
-Marco Polo: Some weird guy who approached Carly in Valencia


The rest is just plain strange footage of us being weird. If only I could capture her trademark weird sound effects. You can hear one when she says "What the-*raerr*" while playing digital solitaire.


Now that you are "in the know," I guess you can watch it.


On to the video already!

Online publishin'

A couple weeks ago, the teacher whom I help out at the official language school teaching English told me about an opportunity to write an article for their magazine.

The print copy won't come out until after my arrival in the states, but they promised to ship me some hard copies.

Right now they have the articles online before publishing them.

Here is mine:

http://eoialicante.edu.gva.es/revista_eoi/?page_id=354

Spice Girls Spanish Style

A couple weekends ago, in the Barrio Santa Cruz, there was this "concert" of people lip-syncing famous songs. Some were techno (with little to no words) some were Spanish, and some were English.

One of the English ones was The Spice Girls. There were 4 above-the-age-of-forty women dressed as the famous group, along with a mannequin, lip-syncing the hit "Wannabe."

It was weird but very entertaining, as you could probably guess.

Want to view it? Well you can! Right here.

A late night

A video I made after I got home last night...erm, this morning.

Thin Lizzy on the beach

This video is all the way back from January 17th or so, but I just got around to posting it.

Mike plays us some "Boys are back in town" on the beach with a new (weird) German friend.

Some short time after this video, aforementioned German friend stripped to his speedo and ran into the sea. It was an unfortunate sight.

Fortunately for you, he isn't visible in this video! Enjoy!

Extended stay?

I am leaving at the end of May, but many of my friends are commenting on this recent news article, that just shows that ash clouds are out to get students studying abroad in Spain, apparently.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8669610.stm

A guitar ditty

The weekend after the end of Spring Break, USAC took us on a (free) day trip to Javea and Altea, as well as Cabo de San Juan, where there is a great viewpoint after a short hike.

In Javea, there is a very pretty church, and I wanted to shoot something in front of it. Due to how the restaurants near it were set up, as well as a lack of places to sit (Mike doesn't have a guitar strap so he can't stand and play), I had Mike sit on a road blocker. Although it is hard to see, the church is in the background.

Mike and I discussed before this what song he should play, and how it would have to fit the church theme. He mentioned Stairway to Heaven, and I thought it would be brilliant.

Enjoy.

Final Generation Y broadcast!!!

Listen to it live at 1pm Chicago time TODAY (wednesday) at www.radiosanvicente.com.

Go to the site and click "escuchanos" to stream it live!


THIS IS MY LAST ONE!!!

Dante is an ARTEEST.

Dante loves to draw.

When he comes into my room he always asks for my colored pencils, because he wants to color.

When he sees my mini orange notepad filled with paper, he makes a similar request.

Once he has a pen and paper in his hand, he will ask for requests, on what the people want to be drawn.

And he will give you a terse "no" at most requests.


He will draw you anything in the entire world, anything you request. That is, as long as your request is potatoes.

Preview of my broadcast this week

Being my final week working at the radio station, my little cultural program (that broadcasts on Thursdays at 6:40am Chicago time) will be a little different than usual. Instead of focusing on one thing in particular, I do a little summary of my entire experience. I wrote it in a pro-con style list (and I will write a blog entry about this too), comparing what I will be going back to, but also what I will be leaving behind here in Spain.


Needless to say, it's a tearjerker!

A heartfelt farewell

My friend Morgen wrote a blog entry about her "guapas" (beauties) aka friends she made in Spain in the program. I often talk about Morgen, Carly, Sarah, etc, so I think you should have a read...


http://labibliotecaestaenfuego.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-guapas.html

Generación Y Radio program

My radio program will be on TODAY, Wednesday, at 1pm Chicago time, once again.

be sure to tune in at www.radiosanvicente.com and click on "escúchanos"

Moroccan Jesus

I love this caption my friend David put under a picture he took in Morocco:

"we're eating bread, honey, and some morrocan tea.I feel like thats a typical meal for jesus or sumthin."

Sixth Radio Broadcast!

Perfectly in time for earth day, I have uploaded my week six broadcast of my radio show (this was from over 6 weeks ago!) on the topic of the environment. It's so old, that when I uploaded it I cringed at how American my accent sounds. I think I improved...or so I hope.

I used TV on the Radio's song "Staring at the Sun."

Get on with it!

This conversation recently occured when Dante was playing on the armchair and we were sitting to eat dinner...(translation below)
Dante: *crying* Quiero pinones! Damelos por favor?
Rocio: Vale.
Dante: *still crying* Pues, venga, vamos!


Dante: *crying* I want pinenuts! Will you give them to me please?
Rocio: okay. (continues dishing out her bowl of soup)
Dante: *still crying* Well, alright already, let's get on with it!

"Workin' the beads."

I was writing something on my friend Morgen's facebook wall and read what a relative wrote on there. She's referring to her Grandma's intense prayer...

"The dumb volcano has Gma Marianne all worked up... She's convinced it will foul up your return. I think she will be working the beads to rectify the situation. To be honest, if it comes down to Grandma's worry vs. the powers of the earth and a volcanic eruption, my money is on Grandma."

Volcanoooooo!

If you haven't already heard, a volcano erupted in Iceland (This is probably the only news item that us USAC students knew/cared about before you people over in the USA...we feel pretty isolated news-wise). Why this is important news: almost all air travel in Western Europe has stopped. Yes, that's right...even dinky airplanes like RyanAir are cancelled.

I had plans to go to London this past weekend, but I couldn't go due to all the travel cancellations.

Of course, that was also the last few days of our Spring Break, which means USAC students are stranded all over Europe! One even in Iceland...although I heard that those Icelandic people aren't too affected...it's only the ash-laden lands over in my direction that are affected.

That being said, of 60 students in the program, 30 are MIA. Good thing Luis kept tabs on where everyone went before they left.

Yesterday in my Seminar class, only 2 were missing...but today in Business, 4 out of 9 were present. And Lourdes, my Business professor, who is also Carly's grammar teacher, said that the grammar class had 2 of 15 students present. It stinks because we have to still go to class, even though we are clearly passing the time doing nada as people get back.

I have a friend stuck in London, a couple in Berlin, a couple in Amsterdam, one near Milan, a few in Athens, and several others sprinkled around. Of course, their Spring Break is extended indefinitely...until flights start to go up again. Some have caught buses back home (35 hour bus rides or longer), but others are choosing to stick it out and see when they can take the next flight. Many airlines say they will start up tomorrow, but others say that they won't until Thursday. We'll have to see.


What sucks the most is that with all this time off, all I want to do is use it to travel. But there's a catch-22 with that...

Rick Steves' Europe

Various commentary/musings related to Rick Steves:

Carly just met Rick Steves in Italy, where she traveled with her dad for Spring Break.

I was looking up information on Turkey on Rick's website and came across this writing gem: "High above on the hillside, the lone but happy song of a goatherd's flute plays golden oldies. 'Why do you play the flute?' I asked the goatherder. He said, 'So the goats know they are loved.'"

I asked my host parents if they knew who Rick Steves was, and they had no clue.

I was thinking about if a European DID recognize Rick Steves, they would most likely categorize him as the almost-too-friendly American traveler who wears khaki shorts and practical shoes everywhere, with a gaggle of American tourists asking him for an autograph.

Fixed Picture Links

It was brought to me attention that my picture links weren't working properly.

Check out these blog links where I changed my photo links...


http://melissainspain2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/parents-visit-to-spain.html

http://melissainspain2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/were-gonna-burn-this-whole-city-down.html

http://melissainspain2010.blogspot.com/2010/03/return-to-san-sebastian.html

http://melissainspain2010.blogspot.com/2010/02/granada-pictures.html

At the links to those posts, you will see the photo links are all bit.ly links. They are shorter and lead to a much longer, CORRECT photo link so you can see my albums! Enjoy!

This fire is outta control, we gonna burn this city! Burn this city!

My trip to Valencia with Sarah and Carly during the weekend of March 19th for Las Fallas is documented in this video:



Notice the song and lyrics: "We're gonna burn this whole city down!"

Like I said, these people are CRAZY. The city could catch on fire any minute, as shown by the raging flames. How this never actually happens, I don't know.

Santa Faz

And here's the email USAC sent us, a rather bland description of the aforementioned Santa Faz Pilgrimage.

For Christians, life is a mere journey. This idea gave rise to the popular event, which involves both enjoyment and religion, where at least one day a year, people walk together to places of worship and devotion, shrines and sanctuaries outside the walls of so many towns and villages, on mass pilgrimages marked by traditions, promises and votive offerings and with displays of folklore and the gastronomy typical of each place. Out of the great number of pilgrimages in Spain we can highlight that of La Santa Faz de Alicante (more than 250.000 pilgrims walk in this pilgrimage).
This church, situated just 3 miles away from the town centre, is the pilgrimage church where the Saint Faz relic is kept and that is why every year thousands of people go from Alicante to and share their faith. The building has a pyramid shaped dome and is part of the baroque style. There is kept a part of the fabric with which Veronica cleaned Jesus face and that was brought to Alicante from the Vatican in 1489 as part of a pilgrimage.

Shopping carts with booze

Today I woke up at 7:30am during vacation days to witness the pilgrimage to Santa Faz. It begins in Alicante at 8am, where people gather (with bamboo walking sticks with evergreen poking out the top) at the church, then they walk onward, about 6 miles or more, to Santa Faz or something. The people who do it, however, vary in age. There are elderly people, there are parents with kids, and there are loads of teenagers. And since there are teenagers, there is booze.

There are loads of teens doing this, clearly many of them underage. But there are cops everywhere directing traffic (of which there is practically none since it's a holiday) and they sure don't give a damn.

I was walking out my door at 7:50am and saw a group of three teens. The boy was drinking a 40oz bottle of Amstel beer, the girl was carrying grocery bags, and the other girl was pushing a stolen shopping cart filled with more grocery bags filled with liquor, Fanta, Coke, and a cooler of food.

Rocio told me she used to do it as a teenager, where her and her friends would get up early to walk there, bringing food and drinks for the whole day. They would walk all the way there, then spend the entire rest of the day on the beach having a party, then take the bus home at the end of the day.

But now that I think about it, people probably look back on this event like this:

"Remember back in high school, when we would wake up at 7am on a Thursday, fill up a shopping cart with booze and food, and drink 40s of Amstel on the 6 mile hike up to the beach? Those were the good ole days..."

Where they put those shopping carts when they reach their destination, however, is unknown.

Chin Chat

Carly, Sarah, and I were a little slaphappy when on our trip in Granada a couple months back.

(On the trip) Allie fell ill and Morgen had to accompany her all day in the hospital. When Morgen got back, tired and feeling sick herself, we guaranteed her that this would cheer her up, and it did.

How to hit on Spanish Men

After much experience of how the creepy Spanish men do it, Carly and Sarah offer advice on how to hit on them. Just do what they do...right back.
**PS: Guapa (beautiful) is what they call girls to hit on them, Guapo (handsome) is for men.

Parents' visit to Spain

I have uploaded pics from my parents' visit to Spain.

http://bit.ly/ax25ID

That is the link to the pics from Barcelona and Alicante!

Among the Alicante pictures are pics of my host family, me at the radio, and my cooking classroom!

We're gonna burn this whole city down!

I am finally uploading pictures and I got all the Fallas pictures up from Valencia.
You can see them here.

http://bit.ly/an84rJ

I am also working on the video editing, don't you fret!

Fallas is a huge celebration where people construct these gorgeous paper-mache sculptures (that look like plastic) and then at midnight Friday, they burn them all down. These things cost thousands and millions of euros, but they build them just to destroy them. Sarah, Carly and I went there and spent a weekend in Valencia. USAC had buses go Friday morning and left Saturday at 3am, basically a one-day trip (without a hotel or anything) so they could see the fallas. Therefore, we saw some USAC kids there, too.

Enjoy the pictures and let me know what you think!

This may not last

"CUCKOO! CUCKOO! Edelweiss, Edelweiss, every moment I--BANG!" My brother's prediction of what Mom may do to our new cuckoo clock from Switzerland.

More Mysterious Europe

I was on stumbleupon.com, which takes you to random websites on the internet, and the first site it brought me to was for pictures of Europe. How timely!
(the site is http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2NUFRp/www.golberz.com/2010/03/breathtaking-photos-of-europe.html)

But of all the pictures they show, which are labeled as "breathtaking," I must say none of them look that special except this one, taken at night in the Czech Republic.



Doesn't this one just look more interesting and attractive than, say, this one:




I think the beauty is in the lights, the mystery, the intrigue that the first photo has over the second. I don't want to see a city for its buildings or monuments. I want to see it for its history, its people, its personality. And that, I believe, is what this first photograph eerily displays.

Reindeer Syrup

I was talking to my host dad about typical breakfast food in America today, so of course I needed to talk about maple syrup. They don't really have that here, because they don't have maple trees.

I remember looking it up in the dictionary before, and it's "jarabe de arce" (syrup of maple). I kept saying that until he stopped me and said "Arce? Arce? When we think of Arce, we think of the animals that Santa Clause has."

So he was saying "arce" meant "reindeer." But I looked up maple in my dictionary to be sure and I was right, it was "arce." Reindeer was something completely different. But if that's what he calls reindeer, I have no way of describing maple.

I mean, I could draw a maple leaf, but it would most likely look like a marijuana leaf.

And I can't just point out the type of tree, because they don't have them.

It's something so abstract that you can't even describe the flavor...just that it is sweet, and goes well with pancakes.

Weird Swiss PSA

It's just for slowing down while driving, but it's super weird.

Long time, no see

I haven't seen or talked to my intercambios (spanish language partners/friends) in a long time, so this email that Carlos, my under-the-table intercambio from the English school, made my day.

First in Spanish, then I translate...

Hola Melissa!
Primero de todo, siento haber tardado tanto tiempo en escribirte y
quedar contigo!! He estado muy ocupado con el trabajo y la universidad,
apenas he tenido tiempo de nada.
Si te apeteciera alguna tarde quedar para practicar un poco de
inglés-español, me lo dices. O bien si prefieres que te acompañe y te
enseño algun pueblo o ciudad cerca de Alicante que no hayas visto, como
Elche por ejemplo. Lo que te apetezca y cuando tengas tiempo, sin
compromiso.
Un beso y lo siento de nuevo!


Hey Melissa!
First of all, I am sorry for letting so much time pass before writing you and hanging out! I have been very busy with work and school, and I haven't had time for anything.
If you'd like to hang out some day to practice a bit of english-spanish, let me know. Or, if you'd like, I can go with you to one of the neighborhoods or towns around Alicante that you haven't seen yet and show you around, like Elche (a town nearby Alicante) for example. Whatever you want and whenever you have time, no questions asked.
Kisses and again, I am so sorry!


Isn't that so sweet! At first I was not looking forward to these "dead days" of my 18 day (!) spring break when my parents left and I returned to Alicante without a USACer in sight, but I think I'll use the time to hang out with my intercambios that I haven't seen in forever!

Swiss efficiency

"So the clock tower chimes 9am, then you hear all these doors opening...the doors to all the shops. Fucking Swiss and German people with their efficiency. Damn."--My dad, on this lovely Swiss morning.

Multi-use items

Carly just posted the following on my facebook wall. Prior knowledge needed to understand:
This week there are a ton of processions for Easter week.
Her host mom tapes notes on her door with bandaids.




A) I just looked out my window and there is a large crowd which means there is going to be another f-ing parade.

B) If I die within the next few days of heart complications or clogged arteries don't be surprised, I discovered that my host mom rarely cooks with olive oil--vegetable is her oil of choice, olive ...oil is just to add after the food has been in a hot tub of oil.

Oh wait, there is one more thing...

C) I discovered that my host mom likes to make use out of more household items than just bandaids, she uses feminine pads as cushioning for her shoes. HahahHHHHHaaaa

As a distinguished singing legend, this voice thing could prove to be an issue

This past weekend I went to Valencia with Sarah and Carly. I have been sick for over a week now, but if you want to call that sick, you probably could say I have been a constant sick since I got to Spain.

But starting last weekend, my throat really hurt, so I went to the doctor and he prescribed me some antihistamines and ibuprofen. I was only to take them for 5 days or so.

Randomly on Friday, my throat hurt and I decided to rest it by whispering to my friends for the rest of the night, or using sign language. That provided at least some entertainment.

On Saturday morning, Sarah nudged me to wake up in the hostel, whispering good morning. After Carly came back from washing her face and we were whispering in our room, Sarah pointed out that there was no need to whisper; we were all awake. Yet, I realized that had I tried to speak normally, it came out as cracks and gurgles beyond recognition.

I whisper-gurgled through the afternoon and evening, when I just flat-out attempted to talk. I forced myself to formulate words and sentences with the crackling soundbox I called a voice. Saturday my throat didn't hurt at all, only my confidence in speaking did.

After chatting with a couple cool Manchester blokes that night, my voice warmed up a bit and heavily improved from the morning. No longer was my laugh a hissing gasping noise, but there were actual inflections at the "HAs."

Sunday my voice was back but raspy. When I got home that evening, my host parents noticed immediately and said that I just sounded more Spanish. It's true, the young chicas over here all have raspy smoke voices.

This morning it really was no different. The pitch in my voice is very different, more in the lower range. Usually it is in a low range to begin with, but it's even lower, since I am unable to make my "omg that child is adorable" squealing noise when I see a stroller, since it comes out as a screeching hiss that could deter any and every parent from allowing me near their kin.

Tomorrow or wednesday I will record my radio program, and I am sure it will sound JUST LOVELY. If it hasn't changed, I will have a radio recording of my "spanish voice" for me to cherish the rest of my life.

As a way to un-swell my vocal chords, I have been trying to hum songs, usually to no avail. Right now no one is home and I just try to cough or scream, and a raspy HHHHHHH noise comes out.

Since I know my singing voice is probably in the terrible to horrible range when I have all of my pitch, imagine how it must be now. Even slow, jazzy songs like "Old Fashioned Morphine" that require little to no singing effort on my part (when I sing to myself around the house) have become like Christina Aguilera songs now.



I can't even hit the note of the "sister don't get worried" lyric without it coming out as a screeching HHHH. So sad.



I hope this doesn't last forever.

Return to San Sebastian!

This past weekend I went on a last-minute bus ride up to my old home from last year, San Sebastian. 11 hours later, we arrived in beautiful weather in the Basque Country.

I just posted pictures with captions. I only have my pictures so far, and not Carly's, which means Carly is in most of them. I am in Carly's photos. It just works out that way.

When Carly gets to upload hers, I will put them up and let you know.

Have a look!

Click the link below:
http://bit.ly/bnwbU6

BBQ Pizza

Right now I am eating a frozen pizza labeled as "BBQ" that I am pretty sure contains pulled pork.

Spain, this is a culinary accomplishment.

woops...time change error

Okay, i just realized that there is Daylight savings for the US. This means my radio show is on an hour after I said. It is on at 2:20ish today, Chicago time.

"ooooh f**k."

Normally, on Tues. and Thur., I eat lunch with Carlos. I call him and hang up (it's free if he doesn't pick up) to notify him when I get on the bus to go home. Then I come home and the food is ready and we eat.

On Mondays/Wednesdays, I make a meal or take a tupperware of pasta/food to the internship and microwave it there.

So today, Wednesday, Carlos asked me the following (translation follows).

"Qué pasó hoy? Dónde estuviste? He esperado tu llamada por dos o tres horas, y hice la comida. Rocío estuvo aquí y comió, pero le dije “voy a esperar a Melissa.” Y esperé, y esperé, y después me dije “voy a comer ahora también, porque ahora tengo hambre!” Pero pensé en que era tú, y normalmente me mandas un mensaje si no puedes comer o algo, pero…ohhh Fuck. Es miércoles."

What happened today? Where were you? I awaited your call for two or three hours, and I made lunch. Rocio was here and ate, but I told her that I'd wait for you to eat. I waited and waited, then I was like "Now I'm gonna eat because I am hungry!" But I thought with you being you that you would send me a message or something if you couldn't get home and eat, but...oh fuck. It's wednesday."

And yes, he actually swore in English.

Interview with ME

Usually they do interviews with other people, but Tomorrow, Wednesday March 17th, I will have a 10 min. interview on the radio about studying abroad.

It airs Tomorrow (WEDNESDAY) at 1:15ish pm Chicago time, at www.radiosanvicente.com and click "escuchanos."

The Chupa has left the building.

On Saturday, Dante officially "ha dejado la chupa," or gave up his pacifier for good. His parents planned it for a while, but now they think he's too old to have it.

They took him to his cousin's house, who is an infant, and told Dante that they would give his little cousin all his chupas, since he is younger and needs them more. Dante was very mature about it and said it was okay, a bit proud to pass something down to him.

Of course, Rocio and Carlos gave Dante a Spongebob Squarepants stuffed animal (or, as they call him over here "Bob Esponja") to cushion the fall a bit. He cried a lot when he would need to go to bed, take a bath, or leave the house, but so far the transition has been okay. Bob Esponja has been lending his shoulder to Dante for some support in these rough times.

Does that really work on the ladies?

If I haven't already mentioned, catcalling here is ridiculous. Catcalling, or when guys whistle/holler/make noises at women as they walk by, is very common here.

Yes, you may see it in the city, or even in the suburbs I hear the occasional drive-by catcall. But what is more common in the states is just staring. Guys simply stare at the women.

But the Spaniards love to make it a little more verbal. Thank goodness I am not blonde, where the catcalling is a little more ridiculous since they all know you aren't a native Spaniard. Being brunette has helped it be less of the "you're a foreigner so I will make you super uncomfortable" type catcalling.

So, what exactly do they say/do? Well, the most common is "hola chica" (hey girl) or "guapa!" (beautiful girl)

Or, in the case of my Granada trip last year, in the area called Little India, the storeowners said "por favor! Quiero saber tu nombre! Solamente tu nombre!" (I just want to know your name! Just your name!)

Or, in the case of Carly while waiting at the bus station to go to San Sebastian last weekend, a homeless man, in English, said "I LOVE YOUUU"


But they also make sounds. They whistle sometimes, but what's more common is random noises, like kissing sounds, this hissing "SSSSTTT" noise, or this odd sucking noise you make to get peanut butter off the roof of your mouth. Except I think they do it to attract women. Ew.

I have the unfortunate walking route between my internship and school that goes right through road construction. That, of course, means there are construction workers, the most infamous catcallers. I usually ignore them and act like I don't hear them at all. I especially try not to smile, even though it's hard not to when they say such ridiculous things.

Today, however, I couldn't help myself.

I walked by the construction site and hear a group of guys yell "guapa! chica! ey! ey! guapa!" at me, but one voice strains to stay above the rest, reciting a whole paragraph of things...
"hola! Chica guapa! Que tienes mi corazon en tus manos! Mira! Te quiero! Que quiero casarme contigo! Podemos tener una vida maravillosa! Guapa! Por favor!" (Beautiful girl! You have my heart in your hands! Look! I love you! I want to marry you! We can have a wonderful life together! Beauty! Please!)

After the first couple sentences I was biting my lip not to smile because it was so weird. Then I just full on broke out laughing and smiling, but still kept looking straight ignoring whoever was talking. His friends started laughing at him as he continued his rant.

Potty -Training a 2 yr old

Yesterday before I left for cooking class, I was going to use the bathroom. Dante saw me walking in the hall and ran to catch up with me.

There are no locks on the bathroom door (probably so Dante won't lock himself in), so I can't keep him out. I try to shut the door but he just enters, so I am not about to use the bathroom with him in the room.

Thing is, his parents let him in the bathroom when they go, most likely to make him not feel shy about using the big-person potty.

I am not quite as comfortable, so I eventually opt to wait to use the bathroom.

He grabs the step stool for the sink and carries it in the hallway to the front door and announces he will let me out. I give him my keys and he opens the door, but the step stool is in the way. He doesn't figure out that he has to move, just that it is really difficult to open the door. I pick him up and move him, but he won't let me touch the door handle because he wants to shut it.

After I go into the hallway, I reach to lock it from the outside, but he says he wants to do it. "No, Dante," I explain, "You can't lock it from the outside because then YOU will be locked out." He gets it finally, then nearly shuts the door.

But then he frowns and mumbles something, then I realize he is saying "Beso" (kiss). He has one hand on the doorknob, both feet on the step stool and brows furrowed as he leans in and gives me a big wet kiss on the cheek. Then he finally shuts the door.

___________________________

This morning when we got in the car to drive Dante to school, then Rocio and me to the University, Rocio announces that Dante woke up with a clean diaper and peed in the big people toilet! HURRRAHHHHH! I didn't understand completely what she said, but she either said "This is the first time since January that he's done that" or "I have been trying since January to get him to do this."

This is a big moment.

All you need to know about me on the Radio.

Sorry I forgot to tell you all that I was on the radio again today at 1pm Chicago time.

I think you should get to know the schedule by now...


Wednesdays at 1pm Chicago time---Generacion Y (round table discussion...usually in first 30 min. of program) I am unable to record this because it is recorded as one long hour program...so I can't just cut the excerpt that I am in.

Thursdays at 6:40am-7:00am Chicago time---the program I write about cultural differences, which I post later online. It's only 7 minutes long usually, but it can float around somewhere in this time slot.

To listen to it, go to www.radiosanvicente.com and click "escuchanos" to open the live streaming player.

How does one translate "superfly"?

One of the technicians I work with at the radio station is younger, in his late 20s, and recently asked me to help him understand the lyrics of one of his favorite songs. Thing is, the song was "Pusherman" by Curtis Mayfield. Super 70s, super slang, and super hard to translate.


i'm your mamma, i'm your daddy
i'm that nigga in the alley
i'm your doctor, when in need
want some coke, have some weed
you know me, i'm your friend
your main boy, thick and thin
i'm your pusherman
i'm your pusherman

First I had to explain that the n-word should never EVER be repeated. He didn't understand why, and I just had to say it was very degrading to black people to be called such a thing. He was like "I thought it was the same as 'black'" and I was like " NO NO NO NO NO! Please oh please never call someone this. Please. It's very bad."
I also had to look up what exactly IS a pusherman. It is a person who pushes drugs, or something like that.
Then I had to explain thick and thin, and how it means that it means good and bad, and that this (unlike many slang words you will see in this song) is still acceptable to use in everyday conversation.




haha

ain't i clean, bad machine
super cool, super mean
feelin' good, for the man
Superfly, here i stand
secret stash, heavy bread
baddest bitches, in the bed

I completely ignored his request for translating superfly...I just said it meant cool or something. I also said "you will sound silly using this in every day language".
"What is 'stash'?" I explained it meant something you meant to hide...usually drugs or money. He was like "is it the same as 'stuff?'" No, no it is not.
He understood the last line...so we moved on.



i'm your pusherman
i'm your pusherman
i'm your pusherman

solid life, of crime
a man of odd circumstance
a victim of ghetto demands
feed me money for [style]
and i'll let you trip for a while
insecure from the past
how long can a good thing last?
woo-hoo, no
got to be mellow, y'all
gotta get mellow now
pusherman gettin' mellow y'all

"'Feed me money?' what does that mean?" It means get money...and a lot of it.
Trip was also an interesting translation. "No, not viaje, not travel" i said, but more like something with drugs. He thought it meant stoned, but I clarified that trip referred to more LSD type drugs.
I also threw in the phrase "you be trippin'" as a way to say someone is being crazy.



heavy mind, have you signed?
makin' money all the time
my [LD] entrusts me
for all junkies to see
ghetto prince is my thing
makin' love's how i swing
i'm your pusherman
i'm your pusherman
huh

too bad, [Splee]
for a generous fee
make your world what you want it to be
got a woman i love desperately
wanna give her something better than me
been told i can't be nothin' else
just a hustler in spite of myself
i know i can rake it
this life just don't make it
lord, lord
got to get mellow now
gotta be mellow, y'all
got to get mellow now

"Andres," I said, "Rake in this case refers to receiving lots of cash."

i'm your mamma, i'm your daddy
i'm that nigga in the alley
i'm your doctor, when in need
want some coke, have some weed
you know me, i'm your friend
your man boy, thick and thin
i'm your pusherman
i'm your pusherman

Did you know?

Did you know that not only is it highly looked down upon to eat in the park/in public, but it also is illegal in certain parks?

You can get a fine for feeding pigeons!

And people think you are homeless if you unwrap a sandwich while sitting on a parkbench somewhere.

Stalkertime...SPAIN style!

first, let you know all this conversing/exchange is in Spanish...


My friend Morgen went to the grocery store the other day, where a young (20s ish) guy came up to her as she was in the chips aisle. He lingered for a bit, then made some strange comment about some chips being really good...as some sort of pick up line. She was like "uh, yeah." Then he asked her for her number, and she was in a hurry to leave so she just gave it to him. After that, she beat herself for making a silly mistake.

In the next day, the guy sent her about 10 texts about hanging out or getting coffee sometime, which she totally wasn't interested in. She never responded to any.

Then, when she was updating me about this after class last week, she got a call and answered it. It was him, from a restricted number! He somehow blocked his ID so she'd answer. She just said that she had to go and hung up on him. She then got a few texts over the next few days, one of which said he can't sleep without thinking about her.

Now she was starting to get nervous b/c he goes to the same university as us, and she is worried he'll spot her.

I am sure you wonder how someone could find a person in such a large campus...but Morgen has red hair and a bright blue leather jacket. Almost every Spaniard is brunette, so she is like a huge visible target.

Then, the next day, as she was walking to class, he texted her and asked if she was in class. She lied and said yes. Then he was like "are you suuuuure" then she realized he saw her and was somewhere on campus in eyesight! She quickly ran into a building.

Now she is contemplating going to coffee with him so he'll just go away. At the same time, she doesn't want to lead him on since she already knows that nothing will grow from it.
What will happen next!?!?
*cue suspense music*

Okay? Okay. Okay! OKAY!

The other day, Morgen called me after dinner. I was staring out the window in the family room, where Dante and Carlos were sitting.

Of course, Morgen and I were speaking English on the phone. She did most of the talking, so I was mostly saying "okay" over and over.

I turned around to look back at Carlos and Dante, and Dante had a huge grin on his face. He then started saying "Okay! Okay! Okay! Okay! Okay! Okay!" over and over again. He had no idea what he was saying.

Carlos was like: "Dante, sabes que significa okay? Es igual a vale, pero es la palabra en inglés." (Do you know what OKAY means? It´s the same as the word "vale", but in English)

Dante just kept repeating it over and over with a huge grin. It was super cute. Even when it started morphing into nonsense words, then eventually Carlos' nickname (koki). "Okay! okayokayokayokaykoh! kay! kayko! koki?"

The ugly...Englishman?

Why be an ugly American when you can be an Englishman!

There is a kid in our program, Andy, who lies to people who look down on what he's doing, by putting it on the British.

Example:
He does something looked at as a bit strange, like exercising on the beach. If someone asks him condescendingly where he is from, (or accusing him of being American), he just says "No, I'm BRITISH!"

As he says, "I am sick of the Americans getting a bad rap...so I'm putting it all on the British from now on! Soon enough, people will start to think the British are the loud, crazy annoying ones! HA!"

Happily living with squirrels in your house

About animals...

I learned today that (spanish) people willingly have squirrels as pets...that live in their house. Ohhhhkay then.

Secondly, I learned the word for sloth in Spanish, which is "perezoso", which means lazy. Like, if I were to say "he is lazy" I would say "es perezoso." Apparently that is what sloths are called. I mean, it makes sense since sloth means laziness as well...but it's just funny!

Granada video posted!

Here is the Granada video I made, finally posted on Youtube!

Awkard name for a blog...

A conversation I had on my friend Carly's facebook wall...

(click on picture to see larger image)

No, not emo kids.

Welcome to what I have learned was Spain/Argentina's equivalent to the emo trend of America: Floggers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flogger_%28fashion%29

A love/hate letter to Lola, my host family's dog.

Dear Lola (my host family's dog),

I had high hopes for you. I really did.

At first I was disappointed that you simply existed when I found out my host family assignment. I didn't want to live with a dog! My friends said I would like you better than the 2 year old. I was doubtful of that claim. I knew that I would love the child more than you.

However, you didn't seem that bad at all. You made strange grunting noises when you breathed, but it was just plain funny. You were a little annoying when I would come home from school and you'd scratch at my brand new gray leather boots. But you made up for this typical dog behavior when I would leave again, and you would stand in the doorway, nearly getting your head stuck in the door because you didn't want to see me go. You even followed me around the house, and got so excited when I said your name.

Of all the dogs I have met in my life (and subsequently hated) you didn't do what they did. You never put your paws on my legs when I was sitting (you were too short, and too fat) and you never ate or chewed any of my personal belongings (yeah, I still remember that dog that chewed my 8th grade yearbook. To that dog: you've made my list). You never barked (except for the rare occasion there was something on TV that you didn't like). You never drooled. All you ever wanted to do was sit in the same room as me and sit on a blanket or piece of cardboard or Dante's counting mat to protect your butt from the cold marble floor as you looked like a cross between a person bobbing to sleep on a bus and a dog who's face was melting as you dozed off.

That's all you wanted to do. Follow me around the house, or sleep. It didn't matter where you slept, but it had to be somewhat warm. Warm, like the Alicante sun on a Sunday afternoon.



When I was in my room and you were on the patio, the sound of me rustling things around would draw you to my windowsill, where you would sit until you saw my acknowledgment.



Even your creepiness was charming, when at night I would go to my room at the end of the hall and you would stand in the hallway, the dim light outlining your silhouette as you watched me retreat to my room for the night and shut the door.




I loved you for all the times I would exit the bathroom into the dark hallway and get jolted out of my skin when you were lurking in the shadows, growling, or as you like to call it, breathing.



You had so many charms, and I had high hopes for you. That is until today, when you threw up on the living room floor.

My new nickname.

There are so many people in this USAC program, that it's just plain HARD to remember everyone's names.

I mean, there is "hot as balls" girl who oh-so-crudely refers to everything "as balls." Example: cool as balls, hot as balls, gross as balls, etc etc.

There is leggings girl, who trades the option of wearing jeans on a daily basis to wearing leggings, whether there be a skirt or shorts to go with it...or not.

There is soccer maniac kid, who (in the first USAC-organized soccer game in February) took his cleats and soccer knowledge and got a little too intense and thus caused many people to secretly despise him.

Etc, etc.

Some nicknames are good, some are bad, some are neutral.

My friend Carly was talking to a USAC-er the other day about me, and she was like "Melissa? Which one is Melissa again?" Carly described that I had dark hair, I was from Chicago, and so on, and the girl's face lit up with recognition as she said "OHHHH! You mean the girl with the weird accent!"

TODAY! RADIO! ME!

Listen to me on the radio! Today on Generation Y (a university student program about stuff we're interested in), we talk about childhood obesity. Of course I mention the obesity of America. GOOOO AMERICA!


(listen live at 1pm Chicago time TODAY MARCH 3RD at www.radiosanvicente.com under "eschucanos"...my segment is around 1:20)

Granada pics have captions now!

I am not sure if you already checked out the link I posted for my Granada pics

(here: http://picasaweb.google.com/108023025018790851796/GranadaWithUSAC# )

But if you did, check it again because I put up captions. The album is now complete!

Calpe Update with Pictures (with captions!)

As I mentioned before, we went to Calp for the day.

I think it is written "Calp" but pronounced "Calp-ay" so sometimes I write it with an E.

Drew, my friend, organized a trip for us to go there, and it was about 10 euro round trip to get there. We had a brief stop at the beach, then we climbed up the mountain for most of the time. It was super cool, with these ropes that helped you around "rough" areas. When we got to the top, there were 2 cats living off of human food, as well as a bajillion seagulls that came within feet of our heads. The view was gorgeous. We ate our bagged lunches when we got to the top, much to the jealousy of those cats.

When we got down, we stopped at a cafe just because, then caught a bus ride to the tram. We were cutting it close, b/c the tram left only every hour, so we caught the bus and literally got to the tram station 2 minutes before it arrived, around 8pm. We got on the tram home and witnessed a dancing, screaming/singing drunk spanish woman, which was entertaining for about 5 minutes, then annoying for the rest. Overall, it was a successful trip.


Check out this link to see pictures!

http://picasaweb.google.com/108023025018790851796/Calpe#
Let me know if it doesn't work...

Home Stay Tour...second attempt

Here is a direct upload of my home stay tour.


Enjoy.

Granada pictures!

To see all the pics from my trip...

check out the link below!

http://bit.ly/bvysiH

Calpe Teaser...

Yesterday my friend Drew organized (it's nice when someone else takes charge!) a day trip for some friends to go on a hike in Calpe (2 hour tram ride away). I will write more about it later, along with translations from my radio shows, a brief overview of the USAC hike from January, the cave visit from January, and about a bajillion other things...

but let me leave you this picture as a teaser from yesterday's Calpe hike...

First look at DANTE

Yes, that's right, his cuteness has been captured on camera.

The other day he wandered into my room eating the heel of a loaf of bread. I asked if he wanted to take a picture, and he said yes. He was fully prepared for the picture, so I don't know what the deal is with the look of confusion.

Also, you can see his scar on his forehead from the emergency room visit.

And I believe chocolate is what is all over the rest of his face.

The secret guide to men

I found it, yes IT. THE way to strike up conversations with cute boys. IT is mentioning your enjoyment of the band "TV on the Radio." Guaranteed success. I also scored 4 free MP3 albums in the process.

Fifth Radio Broadcast!

This one is about the previous weekend's two big holidays: Carnaval and Valentine's Day.



The song is "Celebration" by Madonna. Of course.

Fourth Radio Broadcast!

This one is about fashion, clothing, and style.




Of course, the song is "Fashion" by Lady Gaga. It was very distracting trying to speak over that audio. Very, very difficult.

"This would never fly in the United States."--Morgen, regarding the flaming madness

Yesterday was the Entierro de la Sardina (Sardine burial) where they carry a giant paper mache sardine through the city to a plaza, then light it on fire with complete disregard to safety.

I filmed the entire "on fire" part, and it was quite entertaining.

They lit up sparklers and those screaming emergency flares, then lit the sardine on fire with them (of course, after they completely covered it in kerosene). The sparks were flying everywhere, on the crowd and the drag queens (there were lots of them there, I don't know why). There were also lots of people dressed in black, as if it were a mock funeral.

Enjoy this interesting spectacle, courtesy of my video (I made it low quality so it was faster to upload...pardon the blur):

This is my home.

EDIT: THE HOST FAMILY VIDEO IS NOW AVAILABLE AT THIS LINK http://melissainspain2010.blogspot.com/2010/02/home-stay-toursecond-attempt.html

If you are wondering how I live it up in Alicante, check out this tour I did of my host family's house.


I will embed the video here, but if you can't view it below, go to this direct link. It is private, so that might be a reason that the video below may not work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_private?v=0mSxKUjxtTs&sharing_token=c2MqgKgEHYpNHT8-ZG0IDA

On the radio again, TWO TIMES...and in other news, Dante goes to ER

Today, Wednesday the 17th, I will be live once again in the "generation y" program that is an hour long run by some kids from the university. Today I join them in their discussion about tobacco and smoking, and the new smoking ban.


The whole thing you can hear at 1pm Chicago time at radiosanvicente.com streaming live. Click on the link "escuchanos" at the top of the page.

The discussion part of the segment regarding smoking is around 1:15pm.

And TOMORROW you can hear at 6:40am Chicago time my personal radio segment that I write every week, this one being about this past weekend's celebrations of Carnaval and Valentine's Day.

I will post the audio from the Carnaval/V-day segment, but the other one is part of an hour long segment, so I don't have any copy of that for you to hear.

But I can tell you this: the first time it was my turn to speak, I start talking about something completely different but have to ramble on towards a point b/c I can't rely on trailing off like I normally do when it's recorded live. The question was regarding kids buying tobacco, and I start off my response with the idea that tobacco should be illegal period, along with some awkward dialogue, and then smacking the microphone stand to make awkward noises all while the spanish university students stare at me intently.



And in other news:
Last night I met with my "under the table" intercambio Carlos, who I met at the English school I teach at. So I invited him to come to my friend's place to watch SKINS with us (a british TV show that I happen to have on my computer, with spanish subtitles) and he loved it. We had a nice chat afterward in spanish, but we spoke english mostly before that.

Tomorrow I meet with my "real" intercambio (number two) that I was pretty much forced to take b/c the USAC office had an abundance of spaniards who signed up. So this one is a girl, and I will meet her tomorrow. Since I never met her before, she told me she will be wearing a black coat, jeans, and she has brown hair and brown eyes. Gee, thanks, Ana Maria, you and EVERY OTHER SPANIARD HERE. So this should be fun picking her out. What is she gonna say next? That she will be wearing boots and smoking? That could SURELY pick her out of a crowd.

Also, my host dad Carlos (confusing, with the two carlos', I know) just told me that Dante fell today at school and had to go to the ER to get stitches. He said it was minor, but he somehow just hit his head when he fell. He'll be fine. I mean, I am surprised this hasn't happened already the way he wobbles around on steady ground, let alone stairs. Or when he takes plastic chair and tries to sit on it on the sofa. He is lucky that this only happened once.

The Chaos that was Carnaval 2010

Brief overview: Carnaval is a huge holiday here where people dress up, hear live music, wander the streets late a night, and get drunk. Apparently drinking in the streets is legal for this and only this day (although youths carrying around 40s on other days would make you think otherwise). The people of Alicante take full advantage of this, even stealing shopping carts to carry their massive amounts of booze. Rocio told me that the supermarkets then spend monday (sundays they are closed) looking for the missing shopping carts, which are by then abandoned in random parts of the city.

First we got together at Sarah P's at 9:30, where I did Carly and Sarah R's makeup. 2 Euro makeup isn't high quality. I strategically placed my phone, cash and ID in my blazer under my suit, kleenex in the suit pockets, and keys and chapstick in the pockets of my jeans under the suit. I also clipped my camera to a lanyard that I wore around my neck under my suit. I loved the practicality of this costume.

We met up with Steve at 11, walked to the Barrio, and saw Drew and his friends. We also saw several AVATARs, many many pirates, and a group of 14 yr olds dressed as Minnie Mouse. The streets were FILLED. There were two stages on either end of the Rambla, playing live music.

We went to the churro stand where Drew bartered the woman down from 6.50 for churros and chocolate down to 3.50. We witnessed the cops chat with a completely out-of-it 18 yr old drunk/drugged guy. We also saw a man dressed as red riding hood with his basket filled with a bottle of rum and Coke.

We walked to the beach, where everyone was standing NEAR, but not standing ON. I don't know if they were afraid of drinking on the sand or what, but it was quite strange. On the way there, we also saw about 4 people with stolen shopping carts filled with gallons of booze. Some of the shopping carts matched the costume, decorated like a baby stroller, or a Vegas gambling table. Some were just shopping carts filled with booze.

We made our way to the Ayuntamiento, where we saw yet another stage of music. It was also very wet on the ground due to it raining earlier that day. It made me concerned that people were splashing in puddles right next to rows of power cords. They didn't seem to mind.

It was at the plaza del Ayuntamiento that I saw the first LOST DHARMA people, and we took a picture. One guy had a machine gun. He also had a fake bloody nose for the time-travel headaches. So in-character. There was also a man in a pink bathrobe and shower cap yelling at me that "LOST es la mierda" aka Lost is shit. I ignored him as he waved a toilet brush at me.

Carly and Sarah jumped on stage when several others did the same and danced for a few seconds until a random woman popped out of nowhere and shooed them off. A few minutes later, I found a man wearing a cow mask and took a picture with him.

We made our way through the city and saw some people dressed as Sims, with floating green diamonds over their head. We walked through the Barrio once again and I pointed out to drew a 40 of Amstel in a plastic bag. He took it out and noticed it was completely full and sealed shut. He took it with him to sell to someone (since all the stores for booze were closed by now) for Kebab money.

We made our way to the Kebab place where Sarah R, Carly and I bought Kebabs. The men who worked there scared Sarah when they loudly shouted "WHAT IS SHE DOING" (in english) when she was reaching around her belly to get at her money belt. And they forgot to charge me for my Fanta, which was a highlight of the night.

We went into some bar temporarily, where they got free shots. We also used it as a bathroom break ( no one wants to use the port-o-pottys on the streets). We stood on the street as a ton of people walked by with shopping carts filled with booze, ringing bells and singing. Amongst them I saw Miles, LeFleur and a random DHARMA workman. When they walked away, LeFleur turned back around and checked me out big time. Carly said he was cute and that I should go for it.

We then headed to Carpe Diem, where Sarah and I walked in, walked to the back, saw Allie (she told us Morgen was outside) then left promptly, all in about 30 seconds. We went outside and saw a group of USACers, where we took a few pics, then split up (some went back to Carpe Diem, some went to the Kebab place next door. I went to the latter). I ordered another Fanta, and Dave, Mike and some others ordered Kebabs. We chilled there until I got a text from Carly, wondering if I went home. I told her I was right next door. She came and bought a 2 euro beer just to use the bathroom. We stayed there for a while, and when I waited to use the bathroom, the "bodyguard" of the bathroom (to make sure only customers used it) asked me for a vocab lesson in English.
Him: "como se dice fiesta en ingles?"
Me: Party.
Him: Pah-dee.
Me: PAR-ty. P-a-r-t-y.
Him: Party. Ah, vale. Pasa.

Then I left the bathroom, I was talking with my friends, and he called me over with a hand gesture.
Him: como se dice "borracho" en ingles?
Me: Drunk.
Him: ah, como "drink"
Me: Si, pero "Drunk"
Him: vale. Y como se dice "mujer borracha" en ingles?
Me: Drunk woman?
Him: Drunk Woman. Vale. Gracias.

We then left this Kebab place and started walking around again. At this point it was Mike, Carly, Sarah and me. We wandered through the Rambla once again and saw more DHARMAs! This time a whole fleet, with mechanics and doctors. I snapped a pic, and some random clowns jumped in front so we had to get another. My favorite part of seeing people dressed up was the couples in costumes that didn't match. For example, Amy Winehouse and a cow. Or a ninja and a Minnie Mouse. Or others.

We walked to the churro stand, where Sarah bought some, and we took them to McDonalds, which was so flooded with people not eating McDonalds, it was a joke. There was a like of 20 people for the bathrooms, and the two-story restaurant was jammed with people looking for warmth. At this point it was 3:30am.

We left because we were getting tired sitting in such a comfortable spot, so we went to wander the streets again. We saw some Converse shoes and I saw another DHARMA. When we got near the northern stage, we stood around, and I saw a giant Lego pirate and a fleet of Mario characters. I always see Marios and Luigis, but this was the full fleet: Wario, Mario, Luigi, gold star, toothy cannonball, mushroom, and Yoshi.

After hanging out here for a while, although I wished I could have stayed out longer till I was a bit more tired, my friends wanted to head home b/c they were either cold or tired. It was 4:30am.

We walked home, and saw more DHARMAs. This time it was a group of 8 or 10, and they had ID tags, DHARMA chocolate bars, and DHARMA messenger bags. They were like "Ah! Otra DHARMA al ultimo momento (another DHARMA at the last minute!) La ISLA ha llegado a Alicante! (The island has come to Alicante!)" Then they gave me a "DHARMA crisped rice" sample. But I am pretty sure he said there was nothing inside.

We continued walking home, and Mike wanted to stop at the 24 hour store to buy some water. The 24 hour store, of course, was closed at this hour. One true sign of being in Spain.

Carnaval Update 2010

Last night was carnaval. To give you a taste of some of the mayhem, here is what my friend's status update was this morning (or rather...afternoon) on Facebook:

Lost: pirate bandana, sword, eye patch, gun, bottle of rum, 20 euro, and memory.

I dressed as a DHARMA Initiative from LOST (known as PERDIDOS here), and saw 21 other DHARMAs!!! Only got a hold of 18 of them, though. My friends weren't fast enough to chase me with the camera for a group of three of them.
Went out at 9:30, stayed out till 4:30am. The party was not even close to ending, and I totally could have stayed out longer had my friends dressed warmer and had more energy.
I set my alarm accordingly, waking up at 2:30pm "this morning".

Pictures and details to come...

Who cuts the cod 'round here?

"Quien corta el bacalao aqui?"=My new favorite Spanish colloquialism, both for its use of my favorite Spanish word: bacalao, and it's odd meaning.

Significance: Who is in charge.

Literal translation: Who cuts the cod around here?!

Third Radio Broadcast!

A little side note: The song I used, "Wheels" by Cake, contains an amusing lyric (PS: The group is from Sacramento)...

And the muscular cyborg German dudes dance with sexy French Canadians
While the overweight Americans wear their patriotic jumpsuits

If only I could just do a whole program on hating on Americans. It wouldn't be very hard!

Creeper in the street

The other day when I was meeting up with my friends at 11pm (if you didn't read my blog last year, you now know that Spanish "going out" times begin MUCH later), and there was this guy leaning against the wall of a building, being THE creepiest person he could possibly be.

The street is pretty well lit, but he was standing under awning, which cast a shadow over him.

He was standing in this casual leaning position but...

He was looking down the street from directly under his eyebrows.

In case you can't picture this, I did a similar pose for my friend Carly's camera in my cooking class this past week. Take a look.

NOW we have a plan.

I love listening to classical music.

Today, Rocio was listening to classical music as she graded papers, and it made me think about how I love to just sit and quietly listen to it.

It gave me an idea.

I have been dying to figure out where I want to travel to this semester, b/c I have the urge to see some places, and to NOT see others.

After hearing this music, it inspired me: I want to travel somewhere where I can see an opera or see a live orchestral performance or an orchestral ballet.

So that decision is made. The question now is...where is that exactly? Germany, perhaps?

Regalos!

Last night I was up really late doing homework in the family room when Carlos came in holding this box-like toy. It's made out of that fabric and plastic ring to make it pop up, like a tent. And it's in the shape of a cube (2x2x2 feet), with a little "oven" with velcro door, a sink with a fabric drain plug, and a stovetop. They bought it for him b/c originally it was 70 euros but it went on clearance for TWO euros. They bought it immediately.

As soon as I saw it, I thought to myself "Yet another place for Dante to store his toy cars that he loves so much."

They also bought the same type of fabric cube in the shape of a washing machine, and then they bought one of those rubber balls that has a handle that you can sit on and bounce.

I was so excited for the moment that Dante saw these gifts. He didn't see them until after he got back from school and daycare, around 7pm.

First they showed him the stove and he just started grabbing everything. As he would touch the parts of the oven/stove, Rocio and Carlos told him what the parts were called.
(Dante grabs the door) Rocio: The oven door!
(Dante grabs the sink) Rocio: The sink and the drain plug!
(Oven knobs) Rocio: The knobs to turn it on and off!

Dante would repeat each part after her.

Then, Carlos started joking "Are you gonna make us dinner? Make some coffee, perhaps a snack of bread and honey? Howabout you do the dishes."

My favorite part was when he pointed to the painted-on stove burners (which are circles) and was like "LOOK! A rectangle! And look! Another rectangle!" And Carlos was like "Those are circles, dude."


Then Rocio asked him if he wanted to see his new washing machine, which was in his room. He kept saying no, until she asked if he wanted to show me the bouncy ball. As we walked down the hall, Rocio asked if he wanted to see the "lavadora" (washing machine). He said yes. He went in and was so excited, and he shouted "HOLAVADORA" (combining hola and lavadora), opening and closing the door of the washer over and over again, and twisting the knobs.




Soon to come: update on my intercambio, the radio, and hike to the mountains (and pics)

Fact of the Day

Today, when I asked Carlos why Lola didn't have identification tags on her collar, he told me that all dogs are required to have a chip installed in their inner ear.

If a lost dog is found, or something bad happens to it, the police have a machine that scans the ear, and on the screen it shows the name of the dog and the address of the owner.

I feel like I'm in I Am Robot or something!!!

Radio again!

Hey, tomorrow (Wednesday) I will be on a segment of the radio station called "Generation Y" which is an hour-long segment run by University of Alicante students. They choose the topics every week and have a variety hour talking about current events, music, movies, and other fun stuff. They always have a discussion about something, and this week it is about Valentine's Day and love.

I will be participating in this conversation. I received the Q's and I will be answering them off the cuff in the session, which I will record in the afternoon tomorrow.


It (the hour long variety show) will be broadcast "live" at 8pm my time, which is 1pm Chicago time. Again, listen on www.radiosanvicente.com and click the tab "escuchanos" to stream it.

I won't have a recording of this to post on here b/c this is more of a "live" sort of thing, so don't miss out!

Can you repeat that?

Rocio and Carlos were telling me how their parents would mispronounce old movie actors from back in the day, and it was pretty funny...

John Wayne---Yon WHY-nay
Cary Grant---Cahr-ee Grahnt
Gary Cooper---Gah-ree Cop-poor
Humphrey Bogart--HOOMP-hay-ray BO-gurt

DANTE TIME!

Some great Dante moments as of late:

I had my backpack on the floor in the corner of the family room the other day when Dante saw my cell phone sitting on top. He wobbled over to it and saw me watching him, then picked up the phone, rotated it 90 degrees, then set it back down again. I have noticed this is his behavior all the time with my phone: he either picks it up and rotates it, or he picks it up and moves it 3 inches then sets it down again. I have no clue why.


At lunch the other day...
Dante: Quiero agua. (I want water)
Rocio: Si. (she pours him water)
Dante: Quiero jamon (i want ham)
R: (passes him the ham)
D: Quiero mas comida. (I want more food)
R: (she puts more food on his plate)
D: Quiero...cerveza (I want beer)
R: No, no no no...es la cerveza de mama.(No, it's mom's beer)
D: quiero cerveza! (I want beer!)
R: Toma mas agua. (here, take some more water.)


After lunch the other day, Rocio was enjoying a cup of coffee. The sugar bowl was on the table, which Dante spotted and immediately he requested: "Quiero azucar!" Rocio laughed and made a face like "like hell you are eating a spoonful of raw sugar," as she moved the sugar bowl to the other side of the table. Rocio and I were chatting about something, and Dante was playing with his toy cars. He stared at us talking, then did a lap around the table and said "Mama aqui, y Melissa aqui (mom here, and Melissa here) pointing to our seats in which we sat, respectively. Rocio responded with a "si." Then, as she turned to continue our chat, Dante (who had planned this sneak attack all along) started going for the sugar bowl. Rocio spotted it and took the sugar as he was an inch away from obtaining it.


Dante was coloring on some paper with his markers when he picked up the yellow one, took the cap off, then held it with both hands, perfectly straight up in front of his face. He slowly approached Rocio, repeating "Look! Look!" She was like "Yes, I see, the pretty yellow!" Then he was about 5 inches from her face when she realized he was coming so close in order to draw on her face. She laughed and grabbed the marker, saying he couldn't draw on her like they do in school (they have had a body painting unit the past couple weeks). After he cried a bit and after she explained that she wasn't mad at him, she rolled up her sleeves and let him draw on her.
Dante: (eyes wide, with an inquiring face) Te pinto? (can I draw on you?)
Rocio: Si, carino. (Yes, honey.)
He then proceeded to take full advantage of the opportunity, going to town with the green marker all over her forearms.


When it was time for dinner the other day, I found Dante five inches away from the TV, pressing the eject button on the DVD player and watching the tray slide in and out, over and over again. I grabbed his hands to lead him to the dinner table, and he said "NO!" and slowly laid down on the floor with his knees bent. He then used his heels to push him backwards, sliding on the floor on his back.


During lunch today, Dante's food was hot and his dad instructed him to blow on it. He would do these short bursts of air, almost near hyperventilation, until it was cool enough to eat.


I found his little ball-popper toy in the hallway on the floor, so I picked it up. Dante was walking towards the dining room, so I took the popper and rolled it towards him, kind of chasing him. He kept looking behind himself at the toy, grinning at whatever game we were playing. I chased him around the 3 foot diameter coffee table about 20 times before I had to stop because I was getting really dizzy. He LOVED it.



After I came home from my cooking class, Dante was eating dinner in the kitchen: tiny noodle stars with butter or something. They were all over his face, some noodle stars even were under his eye, or near his temple. I love how he eats so haphazardly. Later, when he got up, there were some noodles stuck to his pants behind his right ankle.


Rocio, who was out for the night, called Carlos on his phone. Carlos handed it to Dante, who picked it up and had the following conversation:
Dante: Ma-MA!
Rocio (you can hear her on the other end) Si, Carino (yes honey)
Dante: ma-MA!
Rocio: Si, carino.
D: Ma-MA!
R: Si, carino, que quieres (what do you want)
D: Ma-MA! (he then took the phone off his ear, brought it to the front of his face, and yelled MAMA into the receiver five or six more times until Carlos took it back)


After his dinner, Dante followed me to my room, where he grabbed his favorite thing: my house keys. He sat there playing with them for a while, until he suddenly looked at me and asked ...
Dante: Tienes hambre? Has comido? Quieres comer? (Are you hungry? did you eat? Want to eat?)
Me: No, he comido en la clase de cocina. He hecho la comida. (No, I ate in cooking class. I cooked the meal)
Dante: Has...has...has hecho la comida? (Did you, did you, did you make the food?)
Me: Si, he hecho la comida. (yes, I made the food)
Dante: Has hecho la comida? (you made the food?)
Me: Si, he hecho la comida. (yes, I made the food)
I love when Dante acts like the host of the household.


While in the kitchen, Dante took his empty cup and held it up to his mouth and shouted into it "MELISSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAA" and kept doing so until I responded with a deep "DANTEEEEE", to which he responded with a grin and a squealing giggle.


He had one of those party blowers that makes noise and unfurls a piece of paper, and he just honked and honked in the kitchen, scaring the crap out of Lola, who was frantically looking for an escape.


Once he was done with the party noisemaker, he told Lola he just wanted to give her a kiss. He got on his hands and knees and tried to catch Lola so he could kiss her. Traumatized by the previous noise, she was running in circles around him. Dante tried to crawl and catch up to her but was way too slow. He at one point grabbed her tail while she wailed in pain, but she wriggled free. The best part is that the kitchen is about 12 by 5 feet wide, so this was all happening in a fairly tiny space. He started getting upset, repeatedly saying "I JUST WANT TO KISS YOU, LOLA!" I was dying of laughter. Finally, Carlos yelled at Lola to sit. Lola, hesitant and fearful, stood still, then warily sat down. Dante leaped onto her, grabbing her body and kissing her side. Lola wriggled free once again, leaving Dante to fall over.


Finally, after playing (and by playing I mean "picking up various objects and moving them around the room) in my room, Carlos came in to tell him it was time for bed. I have never seen Dante get so upset to part with me! He started crying and saying how he didn't want to say "hasta manana" (until tomorrow) to me, and he wanted to keep playing.

Today was a good day.

Telenovela time

Eric: "Are you having fun watching the high school telenovelas over in Spain? The 'telenovelas de escuela segundaria?'"
Me: "No...I haven't watched "Fisica o Quimica" in at least two weeks..."

bad dreams:sad::ice skating:happy

I was in the family room area with Carlos and Rocio, while Dante was napping in their room, and I heard some quiet tapping noise. I get up and turn on the light in the hall, and it is just what I thought: Dante hurriedly running in the dark hallway towards the family room on the verge of tears. I am pretty sure he had a nightmare. Carlos quickly ran into the hall and swept him up and handed him his "chupa" (pacifier). He quietly sobbed in Carlos' arms, then Carlos took him to sit on the sofa chair. Dante quietly sucked on his pacifier as he calmed down.

Eventually, Dante got up and laid on Rocio, who was napping on the couch. She woke up and wrapped the blanket around him and they cuddled. It was so adorable. Carlos continued watching TV while Rocio and Dante laid quietly on the couch, until Dante perked up at a TV show that Carlos flipped to. Dante, as usual when it comes to television, zoned out, mystified by the moving pictures. It was partner figure skating ("patinaje" en espanol).

Every time the partners would do jumps or acrobatics like flipping upside down, Dante had this huge grin on his face. Like I've mentioned before, when Dante likes something, he just grins and screams/squeals at it. He did this earlier when he was attacking Lola (the dog) with his push-and-pop roll-y toy.


(Imagine a 2 yr old child traumatizing a 2 yr old puppy by aggressively and repeatedly ramming this toy into it as he laughs maniacally)


He grinned and laughed and squealed for a good half hour. Carlos, Rocio and I especially liked the Matrix routine (2 people dressed as The Matrix characters and skating to a soundtrack song) when the girl did a flip over the man (who was laying down) and was an inch away from spearing his forehead with her ice skate.

After watching happy ice skating for an hour or so, you could tell Dante felt much better.