Long Time, no rant!

Hey everyone!!!

It feels so good to be back in the United States with a fresh, reinvigorated outlook on life. Sorry for not posting anything for a WHILE...this blog is a great outlet for me and I have been thinking so much about it lately.

As some of you may already know, the blog was initially set up as a Study Abroad blog for my university, SMC. However...it was swiftly pulled off the site following my "Para mi, para ti, para nosotros" post, due to some "overly inappropriate content." Funny, I just thought it was entertaining.

Well I'm here to say...fuck THAT. (LANGUAGE...if it offends you, X button!)

The blog will be revamped, renewed, and re-inVENTED by the middle of October. Promise.

New pictures. New hotties of the week. New stories. Only this time, no home univeristy to have to worry about. This time, the blog is all for me and you eager readers out there.

With all this being said, I need to get back to work study duties and think about what I need to pack for my trip BACK to Madrid...I leave tomorrow!!! (SO much I need to catch you up on.)

The focus of this blog will still have the "Eat, Pray, Love" feel, but I'm thinking of revamping the title. The tone, voice, and content will all mostly stay the same; only there will be more flare and I'm thinking of taking a hint from the Sex and the City series and talk a little more about relationships. Basically, it will be addressing all of life's facets.

Get excited; I'm baaaack.

YOLO

Para mi, para ti, para nosotros (un salud)

Hola a todos!! (Hello, everyone!!!)

I apologize for not posting as promised. It has been a hectic last few days...I had forgotten that we would be in Granada and I did not return until late Sunday night.

Ok. So my misadventures are as follows:

Granada was a place of great excitement and adventure. I made it to this amazing discotech on a hill overlooking old palaces and remnants of Spain's Moorish past. We got lost. We laughed, we cried, we ate tons of food. The visit to la Alhambra was amazing as well...just a little bummed that my camera died halfway through the tour...

Needless to say, I had an amazing weekend. The memories are all blurring together. I've been to countless restaurants and stores with friends. I've laughed all the way.

I need to start journaling again too! Although this is pretty much the same thing, a hardcopy book of my misadventures would be PRIME for my future children. Wait...let me think about that one....

I recently picked up my Abono ID card so I no longer have to pay bookooo euro for 10 pass metro cards. GRACIAS A DIOS!

Finally,

Let me end with this. I was walking home from Calle Horteleza today. The pavement felt so good on my feet. I had my headphones in, Madonna Rihanna Techno blaring, and a HUGE smile on my face. My walk was one from ANTM, my look reminiscent from a scene in the Devil Wears Prada. I'm on top of the world.

Last but not least...PICTURES AND BACHELOR OF THE WEEK:

Great photography skills. Model shot!

Tyler sleeping while we were waiting for the chueca metro.

The gay district!

Tyler and I at Parque del Retiro.

Cool picture on Calle Horteleza.

HOTTIE OF THE WEEK: The Flamenco God himself.

Love you all. YOLO

Es tuyo o suyo?

So today, I spent the day with Lauren. We went to Parque del Retiro for a hot minute, grabbed a bite at la Trattoria, I left my number on the receipt for the waiter at the restaurant, and we walked around. Everything was smoothly finished with a Dulce de Leche frozen concoction from Burger King. Fab day.

Hold up. Did I really just say I left my number for the stud waiter? Why yes, I did indeed. One great lesson I have learned thus far is to take life by the horns. Just do it. YOLO. Shit or get off the pot. Having missed out on a hunk last night, I figured this would be a great way to redeem myself. As we left the restaurant, the waiter ran outside. He followed us down c/ Hortaleza, screaming "ESPERA!" and then proceeded, in Spanish, to ask whose number it belonged to. I started laughing. Lauren turned to me and laughed, pointed at me and said, "Es de suyo." It was hard to tell if he was happy or could care less. Maybe he's hetero? (GREAT PRACTICE OF POSSESSION btw!!!)

Last night, I went to LongPlay with Tyler and ended up bumping into my friend Maya. I crashed at Tyler's place on Calle Mayor and she snuck me out of the house before her host mom would even notice. Perfection. And yet another story to remember and laugh about later. The grocery store down the road provided me with the nourishment I needed: un postre and a Coke. Fabulous.

Classes have also been going well. I have done more exploring, bumped into a great new Spanish hottie (perhaps he will find himself on the next edition of Bachelor of the Week if all goes well?), and have just laughed my ass off.

Right now, I'm exhausted. Taking the metro and causing mischief requires much sleeping and even more water consumption. The adventures are just beginning.

First full week in Madrid? GREAT SUCCESS

YOLO bs

Bienvenidos a Madrid!!!

So...

Sorry it has been so long! Adapting to my new surroundings has taken more time than I had anticipated, with jet lag being one of my main obstacles to overcome.

I have done SO MUCH since my last post: for starters, I made it out to the clubs my first weekend with friends, established a great relationship with the local bartenders, and have GREATLY improved my conversational Spanish.

I have learned the Metro system, allowing myself the ability to be bold enough to travel on it solo. I LOVE this city so much! Everything is so efficient, and its inhabitants are some of the happiest people I have seen in a long time. In the U.S., some people look at me and ask me how I can be so happy all the time. To which I reply, "Because I am ALIVE and it is so much better to laugh than to cry." Here, it doesn't seem to be a problem; its as if they saved space for one more smiling face--mine.

I have also started my classes at Complutense University. I LOVE the professors and have discovered that Spanish should have been my major, after all. I was placed in the C1 level...the only one after that is C2...I was extremely surprised at my level of Spanish comprehension and application. (Just another sign that I am meant to do something with Spanish in the near future!)

Speaking of, I signed up for a TEFL course so I can start making some money. The ironic thing about this is the day I lost my 10pass Metro card, I received this email about teaching English to the locals. Karma is most definitely on my side.

OKAY. PICTURE TIME

1. I miss my dog, Dutchess. SO CUTE




















2. Mercado de la Reina. This was a trendy Tapas bar that I went to with my new friends Lauren and Sam. (Love them.) We all HAD to have cerveza, as this was the first time we could legally drink at a bar. The tapas were amazing. They ended up going back the next day because they loved it so much. The picture below showcases
the food. I realized after taking this that my camera takes phenomenal photos!












3. Room 424 at Hotel Regina. 4-star. Great atmosphere. Gorgeous rooms. Great place to party. JUST KIDDING! This was me and David's room; he is also my roommate on Calle Reina Mercedes 12.









4. That's me Friday night! I had just showered and gotten ready for our API dinner at a restaurant in las Puertas del Sol. Great food...I had had salad with walnuts and brie, roasted duck with a raspberry sauce, and a nice light dessert with mineral water. The food here, if you haven't already noticed your tongue watering, is AMAZING.






Finally...

Me and my new friends! From left to right: Liz, Maya, Me, Lauren, and Sam. GREAT girls. Cannot wait to go to the clubs with them tonight! Lucky Liz will be in Barcelona though.

PS bachelor of the week starts NOW:
Two hotties me, Lauren, and Sam found our first day. Can anyone say, "Que SEXYYYY!"?!

YOLO, guys! Thanks for following...keep an eye out for the next post. From now on, they will be once a week on SUNDAYS. More will be posted as I see fit though. bs (besos)

Jet Lagggg

I'm here. Currently, I'm laying on my yellow-blanketed bed in Hotel Regina, conveniently located in the heart of the city. I was supposed to nap until 5:15, and thought the room I had was a single...

SURPRISE

I was awakened by a roommate!! I was SO embarrassed: I had things thrown everywhere.

My flight from Portland, ME, to Newark, NJ, to Madrid, Spain, was not as bad as I had originally anticipated. Sure, I have my fair share of jet lag, but I'm in Europe! I figured it would be best to just live my day normally. Me and a few of my new friends thought it would be fitting to celebrate our first night by going to one of the local discotecas. Now that we are of European drinking age, we were thinking of picking up some cerveza (Spanish for beer) and enjoying a two-hour stint at one of the parks, just to explore and get more acquainted. We plan to proceed to the clubs around 12 or so.

Wasted. Sloshed. Hammered. Toasted. Just an FYI...it is frowned upon to be seen in public drunk. In other words, alcohol is seen as more of a social thing than as something used to get to the point of no return.

Somewhere over the middle of the Atlantic, I cried tears of joy. The last time I remember tears emerging from my iron-clad tear ducts was this past summer, after a trip to NYC. I have never cried out of sheer happiness before. I was so proud of how far I had come, how all of my problems from last semester were things of the past, and how easily I could talk to strangers. I watched "He's Just Not That Into You" on the Madrid flight...GREAT movie.

I met Betsey, a Master's student in Madrid, and Allison, a fellow Junior studying abroad in Barcelona. It is so great to make connections. And it is also great that I met Betsey via a small blonde girl who handed her a note to give to "that boy in the wheelchair." A love note. Classic.
I also met two other students studying in Madrid while at baggage claim. I can't wait to meet some locals!

Me, Lauren, and Sam, all API students, went for a long stroll downtown to check out our new hometown. We snuck into a small tapas bar that was soooo good we decided it had to be our new hang out spot before the club. It was a little intimidating at first to be forced to order in Spanish, but we all did fine. It's really just an adjustment; we have all studied Spanish for years and just need to dust off the old files and apply them to the here and now.

Coincidentally, my hotel roommate is also my housemate at our Sra's house. I hope he wasn't too startled when he saw me sprawled across the bed...

Anywho, keep an eye out for some pictures from today and this evening. We're going to dinner around 8pm, and I'll probably have a much lengthier post within the next few days. This weekend should be very interesting.

YOLO

Packing...?

Alright, guys. The time is finally here. I'm leaving. TOMORROW.

I am, of course, a HUGE procrastinator and waited until today to pack. Fabulous, right? I do NOT recommend it. I spent hours rearranging clothes in Space Bags with my brother. I had to leave some of my most prized fashions behind in a box, but I smiled when I remembered that I can always buy something hot abroad.

Check out this pic:
(That's my brother, Nick, making a "yikes" face when looking at all of my stuff scattered all over our living room.)

Packing was much more difficult than I thought...I researched Rick Steves' website for pointers and attempted to follow along, but it was not as easy as it all sounded... (After all, would YOU want to leave behind your favorite striped designer button down, even if you were 1 lb overweight? I didn't think so...harder than it seems, right?)

Everything, and I mean everything, has been neatly packed away thanks to my mother, father, and brother. All clothing items were hand selected, the cream-of-the-crop, meant to walk the streets of Madrid and the world over. (Also to keep my body properly clothed while checking out the nightclub circuit.)

I'm finishing up my final goodbyes to my best friends, Brittany and Amanda, tomorrow. My good friend Danielle is already in the French Riviera (lucky bitch!!!) so I will hopefully be seeing her soon. Ellen is in Cork, as well as L-South. Good luck to all on their way (Erika) and those already present in Europe (as well as South Africa, Chelsey and Cara).

***Keep an eye out for the next blog, marking my arrival. It's finally here; the adventure is only just beginning. Madrid, here I come.

YOLO!!!

Wake Up Call

Hello, everyone!!!

Alright. So this entry is going to jumbled. Frazzled. All over the place. Explosive. Exciting. Tantalizing. Refreshing. Eye opening. Basically, it will be like the taste of a Whatchamacallit. (One of my most favorite candy bars.)

For starters, I am going to be introducing a new section of my blog, appropriately entitled "Bachelor of the Week." Starting my first week in Spain, I will be posting a picture of a local hottie. I'd like to thank my good friend Dachelle for this GREAT idea. I feel that it will make this blog even more real. (Of course, I will be asking permission from the individuals photographed.)

I LOVE taking pictures, so my new-ish Canon SD940is is going to definitely come in handy for this task, as well as photography of my new home in general. I am pumped. I am scared. I am nervous.

Christmas has come and gone; a majority of my gifts are meant for travel, so I feel pretty well prepared for whatever the travel gods may throw my way. I have also taken this week to say my final goodbyes to some great people. This is my last week working at PharmaHealth until my eventual return to the Fairhaven area in July; it will be hard to punch out for the last time on Friday and not have these wonderful people along for my Spanish ride.

My BESTEST friend from Saint Michael's, Kate Condon, will be leaving for Ecuador in a few days to visit with the host family she stayed with during HER study abroad experience; and, seeing as I must be returning to Maine after this week, we had to say our goodbyes. It was difficult. We had a marvelous time at Borders, shopping for travel books (and this book about science and sex that I am PUMPED to read on the plane), and sitting down for a great cup of Seattle's Best coffee. We talked for hours, drove to Chipotle for a "snack" (which consisted of two full size chicken burritos, fully loaded, for each of us). We then proceeded to talk about love. Such a great discussion. And abroad. We talked about my ex, her exes, and her current relationship. Flawless.

A quick interjection with a GREAT QUOTE from Eat, Pray, Love (I'm almost finished with it!!!):
"One must always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation" (75).

I totally feel this right now. COMPLETELY. I have changed so much, not only in the previous semester, but also in these final weeks of my stay in the United States. I have decided that, much to my friends' applause, I will NO LONGER be holding back in this blog. This is mine, damnit! I'm going to talk about the uncomfortable; I'm going to make you question your logic; and I may say some things that may be viewed as offensive.

***There is an X button on the internet for a reason.

This is the one and only time I will bring this up here at this juncture: relationships. Sometimes, people find themselves with someone who they think is right. They may even convince themselves that he or she is the "one." Or break up a few times and get back together, only to realize that the relationship just wasn't meant to work. Let us take a moment to think about all the assholes of our past; the narcissistic, self-righteous numbskulls who don't really understand what they are doing or what they actually have in front of them. Yes, if you can't tell, I am venting. And it feels so good. After talking to my recent ex, I learned a lot. I heard some things I was not expecting. More bluntly: I WAS COMPLETELY BLINDSIDED. My friends know the details; I cannot, and will not have them written here as a constant reminded. Needless to say, he is completely out of my life now. A huge weight has been lifted. I thought I would cry, but I laughed instead.

I laughed at many things. Namely, my stupidity and naivity. I forgot who I was for a while. What makes me smile, what makes my cry, what makes me me. I was so wrapped up in this relationship that I lost sight of what was important. This blog matters. As well as my future. And my upcoming flight to Barajas nest Thursday.

Look in the mirror. Smile. You are worthy of getting great things, and of being with someone who treats you the way any human being should be treated: with love, dignity, and respect. You deserve the truth and to not have things hidden under the carpet. You deserve to only want the best for yourself, while seeing that the person in front of you (who does treat you right) is what is right for you. Don't neglect the fabulous; discard the ignorant. There is my speil.

**********************

Anywho. Christmas time is over, and the NEW YEAR IS AROUND THE BEND! I am so excited. I get two fresh starts: abroad and 2011.

Life is good. Stay tuned.

This blog has only started to get good.

YOLO YOLO YOLO YOLO (say it over and over. It helps!)