Trouble in Paradise

Wow, today really should win a prize.

First, I realized I'm like broke. And , in two days I'm going on spring break. Fun.

Then, my host mom's foot got infected and she can't walk. 

Then, a bird crapped on me, which was very appropriate. 

Then, I have too much homework and a test tomorrow. 

Basically, I'm having a hard time. My head just keeps spinning cause I'm so worried about money. It's not like I can't survive to get back to the States, but when I do I'm sooo broke and expenses keep coming up. It truly feels AWFUL to have to ask for money from my parents, especially when I know they don't really have it. I keep thinking, maybe I should try to go into Advertising and try and make some Real Money, cause money pressures always just drive me crazy. I obsess and worry, like 24/7, which doesn't help anything. Sometimes I think if I could just relax I could solve all these things, but I'm totally incapable. Anyway, the monsters in my head are working overtime. My prayer is that i can solve the money issues and enjoy my spring break, my last little splurge before I must try and rebuild my life, my finances, get in shape, etc. Send me good thoughts!!

Grace

Flamenco and Cooking!

Yesh, 

Training from Valladolid to Sevilla and back is intense! but worth it. Sevilla is beautiful. Oh my god. Can't wait to go back for spring break. All the buildings are so colorful with their yellows and pinks with white trim. And even the food's better cause it's got more spice then up north. 

Friday I got in and wandered around the city with Dad, grabbed a beer and a tapa. It was really nice, like 80's, Friday. Mom and I did some shopping, but came up short.  Friday night we took a long walk around the city as a  family before grabbing some more late night tapas and Sangria. I fell in love with this one tapas bar that served espinacas con garbanzos (tasty cheesy spicey spniach with garbanzos) and these patitas en crema de queso picante which were basically potatoes with a delicously creamy, spicy, cheese sauce. YUM. I ate there for every meal except breakfast. 

Saturday mom and I got up early for a cooking class. First we went to the market and she gave us a little run down on spanish cuisine, mostly different meats and how they are eaten. Then we went back to her gorgeous apartment that has a spactacular view of Sevilla to start cooking. It ended up being mostly mom and I watching cause she was a bit scattered, but it was really interesting!! We made green olive and almond tapenade, gazpacho (YUM), roasted (and sherry blanched)  eggplant and peppers and cooked artichoke hearts with olive oil and garlic. I certainly had never learned how to peel an artichoke before, so that was neat. Then the last coarse was a type of seafood rice dish with monkfish, sepia (cuttlefish), rice, herbs, and homemade fish stock. You stick the whole thing in the oven with a clove of garlic and then bake it. It was tasty. Finally we learned how to make orange flan, which was awesome. Now I know how to make flan. Sweet. 

After a short siesta, me and fam did a little more shopping then went to a spectacular Flamenco show in this old, very muslim influenced, building. 

However, this morning, I forgot to set my alarm and missed my train!! It all worked out, but it was very ironic cause I was having a nightmare that the world was ending and then I woke up, and it kinda felt like it still was. The panic just continued into waking life. But, I slept most of the way home on the train, so it's all good. 

I have some pictures, but really most of them are on Dad's camera, so that will have to wait. 

Can't wait for spring break!! Ooof, so much traveling! But really fun. 

Besos,

Cocido y Tarea

One of my absolute favorite meals that my host mom cooks is this delicious garbanzo soupy thing. For a while there, I thought I was special. Turns out, this is a very common Madrileño dish called Cocido. Basically, it consists of a noodle filled, meaty tomatoe-y broth. Then you added spiced garbanzos, carrots and potatoes. Finally, you add the desired meat. Usually your choices are chorizo, pork belly, beef and/or chicken. My host likes to make it with rellenos also, which are essentially small bread crumbs patties with seasoning. It is tasty. 

Otherwise, I've just been working like a dog, trying to get all my work done before Sevilla. I'm trying to run more and enjoy Valladolid while I still have some time here. I do feel like I've noticed an improvement in my Spanish. It seems I can understand it without effort and my conversational skills have improved. 

I do miss Bill, but I'll be home soon enough, which is both happy and tragic. 

Madrid and Parents

Hola hola,

so, I am back in Valla. It's been while. mostly, the last few weeks I've been doing a lot of homework in preparation to travel. I got set into a bit of a routine. Wake up, eat yogurt, school, lunch, run, nap, walk 2 miles, drink caffeine, homework, walk, skype, bed. But, as of this last weekend, and for the next month each weekend will involve much more adventure and less sleeping. 

My parents got in Thursday to Valladolid. The craziest part of the whole visit for me was visiting my host mom at our house and translating back and forth between host mom and real parents. I was all flushed and needed a few beers to keep up. They kept wanting me to say things that were impossible to translate. But, it ended up being a really good test of my spanish skills. I took my folks to the mussels tapas bar which they seemed to really like and on a few of my favorites walks around town. My parents were a bit foggy cause they ahd not adjusted to the time schedule, but we still had a good time.

Madrid was great. When had to spent a lot of Saturday napping, but eventually we made it to the Reina Sofia and then out for some great tapas around Puerta del Sol. These were hectic tapas bars even for me! Saturday night Madrid tapas is a frenetic experience. But, very tasty. I really liked the shrimp and the gazpacho we ordered...

Sunday was accidently dedicated mostly to shopping. We also decided we had eaten enough bread and ham, and found a tasty Indian restaurant. I thought I was gonna cry it was so delicious. Spices? Taste? Amazing. The big event of the day was the Madrid Real game at 5. It as really fun to be in such a huge stadium and around people who really understand soccer. We had a great time, even tho Madrid pretty much stomped the other team. 

So, here I am on Monday and I'm pretty zonked. But, there is no time for rest because I've got a paper to write and alot of homework to push thru if I'm gonna be carefree in Sevilla next weekend. After that, it's spring break in Lisbon, Sevilla and Granada. Then maybe Barcelona. Somewhere in there I need to maybe do finals, papers and presentations. It's madness. But so worth it. 

Here's to hopefully not getting any illnesses and finding some extra energy. 

¡Hasta Luego!

Grace

More foods news

Two new dishes. 

Yesterday I had this great pumpkin soup or Sopa de Calabaza. It's made with pumpkin, potatoes, milk, onions, and cheese. YUM.

Second, today we had an interesting lunch. It was a sunny side up egg. Then you take white rice (The arroz blanco is a dish in itself, with oil and herbs) and put in on the egg. Then you pour the sauce over the rice. The sauce had what looked like baby squid in it and the sauce was blackish. I looked it up online and its called chipirones en su tinta or babysquid in their own ink.  Basically, like every spanish dish, you mop the whole thing up with your pan. It was pretty good!

Friday I'm gonna go for tapas to a places that only serves mussels or mejillones. I can't wait!

Above is a picture of a mussels dish. 

Burgos and Belching

Buenos Días,

I hope that everyone reading this is well, whether you be in rainy Seattle or burn-your-face-off cold Minnesota, or even Ellensburg. I havn't updated in a while, mostly because nothing groundbreaking has occurred. Also, I think I've hit this new Spain phase where I'm now realizing I live here and have made it more of a routine. The good part about that, is that I'm comfortable and it's easy to find things and get them done. Bad news is that with routine comes complacency and even boredom. Part of that is because last week I had midterms, which where pretty easy, but then, right after completing my 3 tests, I had dive right into 3 new 7 page papers. 

Then, last Thursday, I was suffering from some pretty bad stomach pains which continued until yesterday. I think I had some type of very mild Gastritis because I constantly had this pulsing ache, my stomach was all gurgling, and I was burping like 24/7. It was pretty cute and attractive. I have like the weakest stomach ever, it sucks. 

So, pretty much I've been in my room drinking menta poleo, which is this great mint stomach-fixing tea in Spain, reading and writing about the Spanish Civil War, sleeping, and looking longingly at the people on the streets outside my window.

That's why Saturday was a nice change. This was class trip number three. I was initially un-excited about this trip because Burgos was supposed to be freezing and my tummy was being all weird still. But, Burgos ended up being nice and sunny and the cathedral was pretty incredible. However, I was an idiot and did not bring my camera inside (???) so I missed that boat. Also, we got to take the train. I love the train!!! I could have sit reading on that train all day. I love looking out the window and seeing spanish plains. Plus, there is this very calming atmosphere on a train, like someone is whispering to you while you are asleep. I was pretty damn happy just reading in the sun  and popping Lindt chocolates I bought (they are soooo good) on the way home. 

The typical food of Burgos is Morcilla (here comes the food portion..). Morcilla is a big black sausage filled with rice and chilled pig's blood. I've tried it once before in my house. But, to my horror, I heard Carlos talking about how it had been in the fridge too long and was probably spoiled. I don't think they thought I understood. I did!! Oh, I did. But, it's actually pretty tasty. Katie ordered some in Burgos and we got all freaked out cause there was a baby pig in the window and the visual association ruined our appetites. 

So here I am in Valladolid. It's a beautiful Sunday morning and I can see all the old Spanish couples shuffling off to church or to buy fresh bread out my fourth story window. It's nice because I've done  most of my work so maybe I can go for a run or a walk today and just clear my head a bit. Maybe grab a café con leche. I could even go bother the peacocks in Campo Grande....

I think the weather is going to warm up soon here. Yesterday when I was walking home from the train station I could see a few cherry blossoms and the birds were all a-twitter. The air was warming.... Exciting.  

Well, I'm off to write some more about Quiroga and death. The best. 

¡Besitos!

-

Segovia

This weekend has been really nice because even though traveling and staying in hostels is fun and exciting, it's also exhausting. So it was really nice to have a weekend in a steady location with regular sleep and good. Friday was a great mental health day. I slept in, ran, did some homework, hung out in the sun in plaza mayor (it's getting warmer!!). 

Saturday we got up really early for the bus to Segovia. The bus ride was terrible! Apparently in Spain they do not know how to build roads and had these round-a-bout things every few miles. Plus we went through lots of small towns with narrow bumpy roads. I felt pretty sick. 

But, Segovia was quite pretty. Maybe not quite as impressive as Salamanca, but the church was pretty and tower was cool. I paid extra to climb the tower which was an excellent thigh work out. The highlights of the trip for me was the mountains, which were stunning, and the roman aqueducts which are built entirely of stone without any kind of cohesive keeping them together. Apparently they were still functioning up until the 70s!! Way cool. 

Then Saturday night I hit the town with mis amigos. It was really weird cause about 20 students, Japanese, Spanish and American showed up at Mike and Shelby's apartment which made the night more interesting. 

I would say it's another lazy Sunday, but I got mid-terms this week! So, I guess I kinda gotta hit the books and drink a lot of cafe and té negro. 

No more big trips planned for a bit, but I'm excited for my parents to come visit in a few weeks!