Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Politics

Practicing for the campaign trail
I am now confident that my Spanish roommate does not like me whatsoever.  Yesterday she asked me about my views on politics--the discussion ended in her calling me an egotist.  I guess I will not be getting her vote when I run for President of the Universe...

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Playing Plumber Again...Joyous...

One of my roommates smokes and deposited all of her cigarette butts into our toilet which clogged it.  This project didn't require any ingenuity, just patience.  After 11 flushes, all of the cigarettes washed away.  Too bad I cannot clean my lungs as easily...

23 days until I am in my cigarette-less house!

Again, I wish everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING tomorrow!!!  Much love--Jane

France

A foggy day in Paris
Picture link: http://picasaweb.google.com/111161978190687820435/France?authkey=Gv1sRgCPmkhK_N6KbYcw#


This past weekend I flew to Paris to meet up with my friend Charlotte.  I originally met Charlotte while she was studying abroad in Madison.

I arrived Thursday night and we took a subway and a train to get to her house just outside of Paris.  Her mom made us pumpkin soup and pizza and after eating we went straight to bed.  Her family has lived in NYC (Charlotte was born there), Singapore, Japan, and France; they all speak English perfectly.

Roland Garros
Friday we spent exploring Paris.  Charlotte surprised me and took me to Roland Garros.  We toured the facilities and museum there and then went downtown.  We ate lunch in the Latin Quarter, saw Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Champs Elysees.  Later, we went back to Charlotte's house, ate dinner with her mom, and went to Versailles to see the opera.  The theater is in the castle and it is gorgeous!  The opera was great too!  After, we watched an episode of "How I Met Your Mother," Charlotte's favorite show, and then went to bed.

Opera House
On Saturday, Charlotte and I went to a small city with great views of Paris.  There also is a castle there that we walked through.  We met with Charlotte's younger sister, Sybil, who is in preparatory school, and went back to her house for lunch with their mom.  After lunch the four of us went to Versailles and strolled around the grounds while the weather was nice.  Charlotte and I then went back downtown to have dinner with her dad.  It was delicious--chicken with coconut curry, salad, baked potato, and ice cream.  Her dad drove us around and we saw Paris by night.  He dropped us off at her house, we watched a few more episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and went to bed.

Sunday we toured the inside of Versailles.  Incredible!  Sadly, though, there was a Japanese art exhibit in the castle.  It was ridiculous looking (see photo).  Charlotte and her family were absolutely horrified by it.  After the tour we ate lunch and I left for Sevilla.  It was such a fun and great weekend!!

The Art Exhibit in the Castle
Basically, these posts are turning into a schedule of when I eat. whooops! haha

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!  Ohh how I will miss the turkey and stuffing; Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday.  Guess I will just have to celebrate gluttonous consumption in Spain.  

Monday, November 22, 2010

Barcelona

Barcelona, in Park Guille with Denise

A few pictures of Barcelona: http://picasaweb.google.com/111161978190687820435/Barcelona?authkey=Gv1sRgCKnsj7LLvbvPHw#

Sorry I have been very negligent in posting as of late!  I have been flooded with projects recently (non-plumbing projects, I mean, so I have not LITERALLY been flooded at least...).  Anyways, I was in Barcelona from November 12-14.  However, the adventure began on Friday morning in Seville...

On Friday morning my class had a field trip to a bodega.  I was really excited as it was a wine tasting and I love wine.  But, unbeknownst to me, this wine was not normal wine--the first sip was rather shocking.  The wine was like hard liquor.  I ended up throwing down the glass like a shot--I hate lingering pain, so I thought that this was the best idea.  The Spaniards, who were with my class, all loved the wine.  They were chugging glass after glass.  After the visit, we got back in the bus and had the most interesting ride ever.  The Spaniards were singing, dancing, and chanting at us the whole bus ride back to Sevilla.  (My professor included.)  It was so really quite bizarre, but entertaining none-the-less.  Rowdy rowdy rowdy.

Later in the day I left for Barcelona with two girls from my program, Denise from Carnegie Mellon and Natalie from St. Thomas.  The plane ride is fast--about an hour--and we arrived in the city around 9 PM.  They ate Domino's pizza for dinner, but I abstained.  (It seemed blasphemous, cannot think of the right word-?-to be an American, in Spain, eating Domino's pizza haha...although I do recall my dad practically force-feeding us McDonald's quarter-pounders in Ireland once...)

Natalie and I were still recovering from colds, so we slept a lot during the weekend.  We also spent Saturday and Sunday on red bus rides around the city.  We could hop off and on as we pleased.  We strolled through Las Ramblas, Guille Park, and the Sagrada Familia.  The Sagrada Familia is probably my favorite cathedral.  It is so unique!  Ohh, and we also stopped at Starbuck's where I drank a hot tea, because apparently I find it acceptable to be an American drinking Starbuck's in ANY country...

On Sunday we headed back to Sevilla after a fun and relaxing weekend.

Also, if you are ever overseas during an election, remember to get your ballot early... I sadly messed up on obtaining my voting overseas ballot and was unable to vote.  I asked my sister not to vote, as our votes would have cancelled each other out, thus having the same effect as if I had voted, but she refused to indulge me.

Can't wait to be back in America.  Let the countdown begin...24(ish) days!!!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Plumbing


Honestly, I don’t know anything about plumbing.  My only life experiences with it have been seeing my dad’s pants hang down too low, exposing his ample body.  Anyways, my experiences with plumbing have obviously been unpleasant thus far in my life, and they have now continued in Spain! Although I have a professor whose fashion taste (or lack there of) is close to my dad’s, this is not what I am referring to.  This is what I am referring to…

My roommate occasionally doesn’t flush the toilet.  So on Tuesday when I was about to use it, and opened the covered, and discovered a lovely surprise waiting for me, it really was no surprise at all.  I tried flushing it, but it didn’t work.  My roommate then told me that she had accidentally broken the toilet.  I used the other bathroom and assumed my roommate would tell our Senora.

Fast forward two days later and nothing has changed.  My senora isn’t home (I hadn’t seen her in awhile to tell her), so I decide to try and fix the toilet.  I open the back of it to find it completely jerry-rigged with DENTAL FLOSS!! One of the pieces had broken causing the problems.  In the midst of me trying to fix it, I broke another piece of the dental floss and water started rushing up inside the back of the toilet.  I could only stop it when I held my hand a certain way, but I needed to hold it there permanently, and no one was home to get me more dental floss (or anything!) to fix the toilet with.  I felt like the little Dutch boy.  I decide to let go, run to my room, and grab the first thing I saw.  Hair tie!!  Then I ran back, before the water overflowed, and tied the piece into place (with my hair tie) and fixed the toilet!  Success!

I am very proud to say that I have begun the renovation of Spanish plumbing—updating toilets from dental floss to hair ties.  My next endeavor: introducing belts to men across the entire globe.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Adventures in Euskadi (Basque Country)


Sorry I am just getting around to writing about my trip to Bilbao and Basque Country.  I have been a little bit sick these past few days and not had much energy to do anything!

My trip to visit Irati was great!  Seriously one of the best weekends ever.  I arrived at the Bilbao airport Thursday night and was greeted by Irati, her mother, and her brother, Inigo.  The first thing her mom said to me was “I have been waiting five years to meet you!”  It was rather late, so we just drove to her flat in Amorebieta, I met her dad, and we went to bed. 

Irati's School


On Friday Irati had a class, so we both went.  I walked around during her class.  After, we went to Bilbao and explored the city.  I really liked it.  My senora told me that it is a very ugly city and has too many factories/industry, but I thought it was beautiful.  It is situation in mountains, kind of in the bottom of a bowl.  There is a river that runs through the city too.  We stopped for lunch and then went shopping down Gran Via…a ritzy streets with lots of shops.

Guggenheim and the dog known as Puppie (how Irati spells it, but it is pronounced "Poopy")


We returned to Amorebieta and walked around the city.  It is quite small and within 20 minutes we had seen everything, so we met up with Irati’s friends and went to a few bars for a drink or two.  After that, we went back to her house and met up with Inigo and Ollia (Inigo’s girlfriend) and went to dinner.  Irati’s parents were waiting for us at the restaurant.  It was a gorgeous restaurant built in an old typical Basque house.  Irati’s mother instructed everyone to order the seven course dinner.  It was delicious.  I am not even exactly sure of everything that I ate, but I loved it all! 

Dessert, Friday Night


Saturday morning we woke up early as Irati’s mom had booked a private tour for Irati, her boyfriend Xabi, and me, through the caves of Santimamine.  These caves were inhabited by people (I think actually by homo sapiens sapiens ??—I did once take a archaelogy class, but my grade was abysmal) over 14,000 years ago!  It was really neat to walk through.  After, we went to a gorgeous beach and climbed up a mountain (El Ogono), to find amazing vistas.  Irati suggested that I throw Pa’s ashes here.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have any with me!  It was such a beautiful place, but brought him there in spirit.  (*This is a tradition in my family, we spread the ashes of my Grandfather with us to all of the beautiful places we travel to—some places he resides include the Sistine Chapel, beaches on Hawaii, Big Sur, and Wrigley Field.) 

Entrance to Caves


View from atop El Ogono


We stopped for lunch, and before entering the restaurant Irati needed to change her clothes…she was wearing sneakers for our hike but could not be seen in public in them.  Haha, she really has NOT changed!  And I am the same as always…I told her that I make any look work…natural beauty always shines through.  She thinks I am crazy.  Anyways, lunch was delicious, and while we did not eat 7 courses, Irati insisted that we eat four. 


After lunch we went to a church that is built on top of a rock, situated in the water.  It had stunning views.  It took us about 30 minutes to climb up, and 60 minutes to climb back down to our car.  I was agotada (exhausted!).  We stopped for a few drinks (of cold water!) on the way back to Amorebieta.  When we got back we went to a few bars (and I had lots of competition, as there were several rubias there!  What is going on??) and then went to bed. 


Church in the background...About 10 minutes into the climb!

"BEER--helping ugly people have sex since 1862."  What did they do in 1861??
Maybe wine was around then...
Sunday, my last day, we explored San Sebastian (a nearby city on the ocean) and went to the 3 cruces.  It was bad weather, so we mainly stayed in the car and drove around.  The countryside is beautiful!  We ate a late lunch at a super fancy restaurant.  Again, we had several courses, and each food was to be eaten in a very precious manner.  “You need to let it melt in your mouth.  Don’t mix the food in the bowl.  Eat the flower, then the meat, then the other flower.”  It was honestly unlike any other eating experience I have ever had.  Incredibly expensive too, but that’s what parents--in all countries--are for, right?  Just kidding, of course, Mom and Dad.


Tuna with three peppers...my main dish Sunday

We then went to the Bilbao airport, designed by Calatrava, and met Inigo.  My flight was delayed, so Irati’s parents went home and Inigo, Irati, and I grabbed a drink in a cafĂ© and talked for a while.  Inigo told me about his most interesting study abroad experience.  While studying in Ireland, his host sister seemed a bit in love with him.  One day, he went home to find her COMPLETELY dressed in all of his clothes.  He was a bit bothered by the experience, but didn’t make a big deal of it and just asked her to not wear his clothes again.  The next day he went home to find her COMPLETELY naked in his bed.  Needless to say, he was even more bothered after this, and has never returned to Ireland.

At last, we bid farewell and I passed through security, jumped on the plane, and arrived back in Sevilla an hour later.  It was an amazing trip!  

As I told Irati, my natural beauty ALWAYS shines through.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Pais Vasco

Mini-Irati!!!
I will write about my whole trip soon.  Until then, here are some pictures!
For more photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/111161978190687820435/PaisVasco#
*see comment regarding photo access*





Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Belgium and Amsterdam Photos

Apparently, I am a messy eater/drinker!
For more pictures, follow this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/111161978190687820435/BruggesBrusselsAmsterdam#

Also, I would like to wish my friend Claire a VERY happy birthday!!  Winner, winner, chicken dinner--Happy 21st birthday, Claire.

A shared love for whipped cream--we get along well!  Claire and me after exams last semester, in Madison.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Brussels and Amsterdam

I have midterms this week, so naturally it seemed like a good idea to go to Belgium and Amsterdam. 

I went with two girls from my program and had a lot of fun.  It was quite an experience in cultures I had never ever experienced.  But, given the fact I didn’t study much on the trip (I did study a little though!), I actually promise to keep this short.

We flew into Brussels on Friday and took a train to Brugge.  It was a gorgeous city, “The Venice of the North.”  We stayed there Friday and Saturday night.  Mainly walked the city, climbed a tower, went to a museum, and ate some waffles.  It was so charming.  The city looks like a city in a snow globe.  Not sure how to better describe it!

Sunday we went to Amsterdam.  The Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank’s house were great, but overall I really disliked the city.  We stayed in the red light district (sketchy!) and it was insane.  Many theatres with live porn shows, prostitutes everywhere, and the clientele to support the district.  The shops in Amsterdam were full of pornographic postcards and really really disturbing souvenirs.  The two girls travelling with me didn’t react quite the same as I did.  They found my horrification to be quite entertaining.  Meanwhile, I was pretty sad, having just lost faith in humanity and all!!  The two girls also told me how they think the majority of men solicit prostitutes. I disagreed, adamantly and hope my disagreement is the truth!  Then, they told me that my dad has surely had several lap dances from strippers in his life.  My horrification grew.  Called Dad, and I am happy to say I rightfully defended him.  My mom, on the other hand…

Okay, maybe I just went into too much detail…

Oh, and the hostels!  Everyone would be so proud of me.  I am pretty sure these beds and sheets were of VERY questionable sanitary integrity.  For a germ phobic kid it was a nightmare!  But, I managed and am still alive.  No signs of mersa yet. Phew!  I did call my mom from Brugge to interrogate her on disease transmissions…haha, yes I am a bit weird.

I will upload the pictures soon!

Love to all, Jane