Back to School and the Rising Cock

It has been so long since I last wrote! I have been exceptionally busy: I started my classes at la Universidad de Cadiz on Sept. 15th and went to Lagos, Portugal this past weekend.

My first week of class has been going well. I have fallen absolutely in love with Historia de España. The class itself is so interesting that, unlike every other class I have had in that boiling hot room, I was completely conscious and my attention focused. It covers more recent history so I get to learn about the conquistadors as well as the European Union.

I am also taking Linguistics with an awesome professor. She is extremely knowledgeable and makes the class really fun. (On a side note, all this Spanish immersion has me thinking in Spanish and makes my English spelling rather crappy hence attempting to spell knowledgeable for ten minutes.) I am a person who is all about learning how things work and learning how words work will help my Spanish and my English immensely.

My Lengua class on Friday was less than satisfactory. My professor is an insane communist who went on a detailed description of a conspiracy theory where the CIA invented Facebook to spy on us after she failed to explain her definition of an editorial. I don't really like her and I am going to refrain from voicing my political opinions for the sake of my grade.

My two literature classes surprising consist of very little writing. I have projects and tests and a paper here and there, but the majority of my grade will not be graded on papers. That has its obvious ups and downs, but all my school talk is boring! I start my classes and get graded starting Wednesday.

This weekend was one of the best weekends I have ever had! We took a four hour bus ride to Lagos, Portugal and followed some random English guy to our hostel, "The Rising Cock." I shared a room with 11 other people that was called the Princess Room! So perfect for me. The walls had castles and flowers painted on them along with Cinderella holding a beer bong and a bottle of vodka. We arrived pretty late, around 9, and hung out for a bit before we went out.

The next day, I woke up early, had at least 7 crepes with nutella (yum!), and went exploring with the girls and Dan. We went around town and saw the beaches with gorgeous bluffs. We got back to the hostel and got ready for the booze cruise. We walked about 10 minutes to the Marina from the hostel and loaded onto a boat for a few hours with almost all of our friends and unlimited beer and (under-par) sangria. We jumped off the side of the boat into the clearest, bluest water and swam around. At first, I was scared to jump off the high rail because it was about 10 feet and then some with me standing. Heights scare me, but the adrenaline rush definitely outweighs the fear. We also got a grotto tour. It was absolutely breathtaking and our boat driver was a little insane. Think Jackie Chan's driving skills from "The Tuxedo" on a boat with giant rocks sticking out of the water. We also ate bocadillos on the most Southwestern part of Europe.





That night, we got back and Kristen and I went out and found Thai food. We ate so much and after we were finished, one of the workers was digging into his own plate of noodles and we were tempted to buy that too. The Thai food wasn't that great, but it definitely hit the spot. I can't wait until I get home and can have Racha! We came back around 7 and passed out until 10. I managed to rally and get ready in a couple of minutes. Kristen and I went to the bar and drank Shirley Temples! Some British guy bought us drinks- I had a cosmo. I forgot how much I missed Cranberry juice! We came home around 4 and then I woke up at 9 and ate a million more crepes.



Dmitri and I got some food and went shopping. We also hit the beach with Dan and took some pretty good photos. All in all, the weekend was very successful.

You Can Light the Fire That's in Your Head

At the beach today, I had Dani's iPod plugged into my ears and I listened to "Walking" by The Dodos while I watched the waves crash and the water flow all the way up to the ledge where we were sitting. The song itself is a subdued anti-war protest, but more importantly encourages change. I am definitely experiencing a change- new environment, new people, new culture, new schedule, etc. However, I am still stuck with some of the same old... Like a shitty schedule!

Rita, our program coordinator, essentially set up the schedule so that we had to be in school five days a week. She is forcing me to take Literatura Siglo de Oro. It's probably the worst Lit class ever. Gotta love the 1500s... Anyways, here's my new schedule. Full of awkward breaks, just like UW. I hate you, Rita!

MON:
11-12:30 Literatura Siglo de Oro
TUE:
9:30-11 Linguistica
11-12:30 Lit y Cine
WED:
10:30-12 Lit y Cine
12-2 Lengua III
THU:
9-10:30 Geografia
Awkward break!!! Studying, perhaps?
12:30-2 Literatura Siglo de Oro
FRI:
9:30-11 Linguistica
11-12:30 Geografia
12:30-2:30 Lengua III

I also have been finding the best places to eat. La Gorda Que Te Da De Comer has an excellent cake called muerte del chocolate and a spicy chicken satay. 100 Monditos has my delicious chocolate sandwich and this great one with ceasar dressing, smoked salmon, and deep-fried onions for a bit of a crunch with each bite. Last night was everything for a Euro so I had both of those sandwiches and a beer. Delicious! Although after my sandwiches my beer was pretty gross. Definitely going to Tinto de Verano next time :) That is basically sprite and red wine together.

Tonight... Salsa dancing?

Speaking Spanglish

Yesterday a pigeon WALKED on my foot! If you know me well, you know that I absolutely abhor feet and birds. Basically, a disease-infested flying animal touched my foot and I proceeded to scream and flail mid-tapas in Plaza de Catedral around a bunch of tourists, locals, and Semester at Sea kids who have been stealing all the wifi. (Oh, on a side note, it's not called pronounced "why phi" here, it's "wee fee!")

Also exciting, I ate a chocolate sandwich. It was a mini french bread with a hershey bar inside and was one euro of deliciousness. Everyone in my group knows that the majority of my diet consists of candy (Thanks, Jake. I had broken that habit!) so they teased me a fair bit, but then the conversation shifted to the weekend after this one. We are planning on going to Portugal for the weekend! It is going to be so fun. We will rent cars or something and drive over there, stay at a hostel called "The Rising Cock" (roosters are very important to the Portuguese), be tourons (tourist morons), and rage every night. I hope it works out.

I am thinking about what classes to take and it is down to the following:
-Lengua III (Span 303)
-Lit y Cine o Literature Española
-Linguística
-Geografía o Historía (although I heard that geography is way easier and the professor is great)
-Civilización
25 credits out of the way of my major! Thank goodness I'm in Spain...

Today I managed to FINALLY get into "la gorda que te da de comer." We have tried to get into there and after 4 failed attempts (it was closed), we finally got in. We had "muerte del chocolate" or death by chocolate which was a rich moist chocolate cake and I think I fell in love. I will be returning there.

And, as usual, off to the beach!

More Cadiz

We had class all last week and our last class is on Friday. We review basic grammar and learn classroom-appropriate slang. I have fallen asleep with my eyes open a few times! We also have discovered a new beach: Playa de Santa Maria. From where I live, it is over a mile away, but luckily Cadiz is flat and the view gorgeous so I just walk. It works out well considering all the food is very fried. I have had a blast body surfing, hanging out, and swimming. We have all adapted the beach bum lifestyle very well. We usually stay until around 7. We were hungry yesterday so we had some delicious tapas and Fanta de limon yesterday. My paella had some seafood in it and was stellar! I headed home and showered. Being covered in salt and sand isn't the most comfortable feeling in 90 degree weather.



The majority of Spanish people always go out into the street at night, even on weekdays. There are even toddlers up and about outside with their parents at midnight. It's kind of wild, but definitely interesting. As a group, most of us have been going to bars and just hanging out at night. Our host parents always encourage us to go out. It's not normal to stay in! My host mom, Puri, always tells me, "Me encanta la joventud. Eres guapa y joven necesitas salir." Basically she thinks I'm pretty and being young is great so I should get drunk every night and go dancing.

On Saturday, we visited this city called Ronda that is 2 hours away. It's a very quaint little town and extremely picturesque. I loved it. We accidentally came on the day of the Flamenco festival, which was exciting. It was decorated and crowded. I found delicious passion fruit gelato! No leche either! We walked around, shopped, and just enjoyed the scenery. We were tired towards the end and found our way to a gazebo where other people were hanging out. We chilled in the shade, looked at la vista bonita, and listened to some classical guitar. It was classy!



That night, we all met up in Plaza de San Antonio at 11 and went to La Punta. It's basically a boardwalk where you can drink publicly legally and there are lots of bars and discotecas. Apparently, grinding is not the go to dance here. The Spanish people have an awkward techno dance where they dance at each other like David Colmenares. We had a lot of fun and I started talking to some locals with some of the people in our group for awhile and we practiced our Spanish! Everyone here is pretty friendly and we were all buzzed. I wandered around and bar-hopped until 5:30. I was definitely tired when I got home, but managed to talk to Jake for awhile. He was a little worried, but I didn't know it was going to be like that. Europeans stay out until the sun comes up! Most places close at 7.



I woke up yesterday at 2:45 in the afternoon and went to the beach. We ran into some other Americans who dropped 25 g's on ONE semester abroad doing semester at sea. The majority were private school kids so I guess they are used to it.

Off to the beach!

Life is bittersweet

I love studying abroad. It's exciting, liberating, and enlightening. I love Cadiz and its beaches. I should be happy and I am, but I recently found out that my dog Rico has cancer. He is going to pass away this month and I won't be able to hug him again. It's truly heartbreaking because he is only eight and I am away. Currently, I am having the time of my life, but also dealing with the grief that is consuming my insides because someone I love is dying.

Rico is a great dog. I still remember getting him in the spring when I was in middle school and holding him the entire car ride while he chewed on my overalls. (Yes, I wore overalls, and yes I thought they were awesome). When we would take him on walks as a puppy, he would just lay down when he was tired and we would carry him the whole way home. Rico was always a bundle of sweetness, an angel under a coat of black and white fur. He loved me and showed it to me in many gestures. He used to sleep on my bed and snuggle so hard into me that he would push me enough to take the majority of my bed. When I left for UW and didn't come back for an entire month, he was so mad that he wouldn't let me pet him and would jump off of the couch when I sat next to him for at least the next four times I visited home. Before I left for Spain, my mom would joke about how mad he was going to be at me when I returned. I guess I will never have to experience Rico moody again.

I find that keeping busy and talking about what is happening once in awhile is really helping me deal with this loss. He is more than a dog because he was so personable. Whenever we had a party, he always insisted on introducing himself to everyone by smiling and wagging his tail. I will miss him, but it's the cycle of being a dog owner. You get a puppy, love it and integrate it into your family and as your dog ages, the relationship grows until he passes.



I don't think that him being gone will really set in until I return home and I have two dogs greeting me instead of three. I will finally be able to pet one dog with each hand, but the space in between where Rico should be will hurt and be as empty as the hole in my heart.