newsflash

      so i was drinking by myself in my room (if that's not bad enough, it was done to "the gummy bear song." i'm a winner.) when i was called to dinner. i wasn't bad, but there was definitely some color in my face. my host dad comes in and asks me, "why are your cheeks so red?"

      you know what i said to cover for being drunk at dinner? you know what clever, sober answer i came up with?

      "chocolate." nothing more. i said, "chocolate," then snickered to myself upon realizing the stupidity of my response, then just... nothing. no fucking joke. i don't even know if i meant to say, "i like chocolate" or "i'm red because i ate chocolate" or "did you know that chocolate in edible form was first processed in peru?" nope. just "chocolate".

      NOOOOOOOOOOO

quote of the day, and some food for thought

      "leave the dishes on the table. don't touch them. that way, when i get nervous about turning in my homework for my informatics class tomorrow, i can busy myself with housework." - my host mother. who also painted a flamenco dancer with red hair and freckles on one of my shirts. and gave it a handknit doily for a skirt.

      castro is no longer the president of cuba as of roughly less than 24 hours ago. something to ponder.

reaffirming the fact that i do, indeed, live in paradise

      i have no pictures (although i should have taken some). but trust me, it was wonderful.

      i woke up at around noon, and it was sunny. we don't have class on fridays, so a bunch of us went to la playa de santa maria in the new part of town. the beach was perfect: the water wasn't unbearably cold, not too crowded, prime conditions for napping with the ipod. i had also found spain's version of andre at carrefour, for 1.7 euro, and red wine in little boxes a la juicy juice from the days of power rangers lunchboxes. happy hour on the playground. made for an entertaining, albeit blurry afternoon :) i DO know that i let morganna, minde and taryn cover me in sand to make a mermaid with massive breasts. and pictures DID ensue, courtesy of taryn. then i listened to a bit of pink floyd while i soaked in rays and the knowledge that i am here, on the southwest corner of spain, for 3 and a half more months.

      the day ended with a small game of tackle football. it'd be in my best interest to pick up running again so that i'm not on the verge of vomiting after chasing and wrestling people (or maybe it was the litre of cruzcampo i had just an hour beforehand. you never know). perfection. perhaps the best day at the beach i've ever had, in my entire life.

portugal portugal portugal!

      our program went to portugal for 4 days, and it was amazing. we visited el palacio nacional and castelo dos mouros in sintra, explored cathedrals, castles, h&m, and bomb portuguese and indian restaurants in lisbon, and toured the monasteries and monuments in belem. brilliance. saque muchos fotos.

      i've also photographically recorded carnaval. it's how i pictured hell on earth (i don't use this phrase in an entirely negative way; rather, in the hedonistic, "why not? when in spain..." sense): every corner of every street and every plaza stuffed with people in costume partaking in all sorts of vices. it's been really fun. i wonder what re-entering the world of going to bed while it's still dark, waking up before lunch, and maintaining some sort of academic and personal responsibility will be like :)
      classes begin tomorrow. we had a trial week before portugal, and it's time for the real thing. i'll be taking: linguistics (with a professor who has the THICKEST andalucian accent i've ever heard aside from my host dad), translation, language 4, literature, history of spain in the americas, and hopefully history of spain. wish me luck!