Goodbyes

Today we "graduated" from the University of Nebrija and had a wonderful ceremony where everyone got to dress up and eat paella and get a certificate.

Now as I write this I am in an empty room in Madrid being yelled at to pick up the one backpack containing the entirety of my possessions for this trip and head to Barcelona. I'm sad and excited, sad to leave my comfort zone and the place I've called home for a month, and sad that embarking on my backpacking means I'm getting closer and closer to the United States (physically and time-wise)

Our schedule will leave us tired. A 10pm train to Barcelona that arrives tomorrow morning, then a 7pm ferry boat that in 19 hours will get us to Rome. From Rome there's Verona, Venice, then Austria, Zurich and Germany with our high school friend Julie who studies in Innsbrook. In Germany we meet up with Mike and Sergio who will accompany us to Amsterdam and Ireland. All of this is only two weeks, we have much to see.

Through all this all I can think about is riding on those sandy beaches in Ireland.

I don't know what time this will leave me to blog, but I will try to find internet every time I have some spare moments. I want to remember this as much as I want to share it.

Beautiful Disaster

 I have a lot to say about the bullfight but unfortunately very limited amounts of time in which to do so. It was certainly a spectacle and while I'm glad I went I don't know that I'm so glad my dollar supported it.

I was amazed at a few things, the first being how absolutely beautiful it could be. They showcase the power and strength of that bull beyond my wildest imagination. Having only seen bulls in rodeo and in the field at the barn I had little knowledge of what agile and beautiful creatures they were. 

The matador had them spinning on a dime and running in small circles, back and forth to and fro. The power of the bull was impressive as well. I watched one knock a horse to its knees and run strong toward walls before stopping dead.  It pained me to watch and realize that the entire time the bull was fighting for nothing. 

I can't say I was too impressed with the matadors themselves. Their movements were beautiful, fluid and the costumes were stunning. Some might say their bravery is impressive but I don't know if many would step up to the plate if the bull were not having darts jabbed into its spine to wear it down before its ultimate death.

Basically, other toreros run the bull around and four others (two on horses, two on foot) jab 8 darts into the spine of the bull. You can see them hanging off him in all the pictures. Eventually the bull gets tired and the matador (the one in pink/yellow) grabs a sword and is supposed to kill him in one blow.

This isn't always the case, one took a few stabs, but eventually the bulls were defeated.

My friend said the cheering was for the bull, but I didn't get that. The crowd really seemed like a bunch of buffoons and when the matadors would parade around afterward it didn't really help my sentiment.

In fact, I had little respect for the matadors and other toreros through the entire process. They don't even remain in the ring the entire time, they hop behind little doorways when the bull comes at them (until he's worn down, as you can see by the photos)

Probably the most impressive thing to me, as you can see in the second-to-last picture is the restraint the bull showed. There were many times the bull could have killed, trampled or maimed the matador and all he went after was the cape. Granted, the matadors move very little and make the cape the object of his attention.

Still, you can see the two at a stand-off and how close the bull comes to the matador at each pass. The fact is: that bull is not really trying to kill anyone. He just charges movement.

This takes away a lot of what I think is the point and the beauty behind the tradition. It is not a fight between man and animal, it is a spectacle. It is man dominating animal.

Put the bull and the matador in the ring without a sword and I'll be impressed.

Sadly there was only one near-accident as you see in the last picture. The guy barely got touched and didn't even leave the ring, I was sad.

I think the sport and the movements are absolutely beautiful. I think they showcase the animal and it gave me a tremendous amount of respect for bovines everywhere. However, I think the same could have been accomplished without actually killing the bull. In fact, I bet it would have been a better show if they just went through the motions and maybe drugged the animal in the end.

Regardless, I understand and respect it as a tradition. I'm not wishing for it to end, I just certainly wouldn't hesitate to tell any of the men involved that they are probably compensating for something (or are gay. I mean, look at the outfits!).

Corrida del torro

I have decided that if I don't go see a bullfight in Spain I will regret it. I am not excited nor pleased to be going, but I think it's a tradition I have no right to judge unless I see it first hand.

 Every other student who has gone has assured me that it's not as bad as it seems. They say the crowd reveres the bull and cheers for it.

I'm not a big animal rights person, but I still don't think I want to see an animal killed needlessly. At least they do it in one shot and cook the meat.

What I'm really hoping to see are some flying matadors.

What we miss the most...

After nearly a month of being away the comforts of home seem so warm and inviting. I, along with all the other girls, am surprisingly homesick. But it's really not for the reason you'd suspect. Sorry mom and dad, we aren't missing you. Nor our beds, air conditioning or cars. 

We miss good food.

In fact, every meal is met with a chorus of sighs and ticking off a list of what we are going to eat when we get back.

 I know, we're in Europe. The motherland of all things tasty and delightful. You would think with that reputation that the cafeteria here would cook edible food. Instead it has been an all out war between students and staff to procure edible food and consume as much as we can because we don't know when there will be another identifiable meal.

We get a lot of food fried, cooked in grease and slapped onto plates. I feel like McDonald's would be healthier. Yes, McDonald's.

 I thought maybe they were stereotyping American's, but many nations are represented here and even the other students are turning away in disgust. 

They fry zucchini! Why would you fry something that is better eaten raw? Isn't it less effort? Also, what exactly is that meat? Is it steak? Pork? Blackened fish? We never do know..

Your safest bet is pork. Not one meal has gone by that pork has not been a main staple of. It's in the pasta salad, soup, sliced for breakfast, made into sausage, on pizza, in paella. Mom, if you cook one pig when I set foot on American soil I will never eat at home again.

A typical meal for the day consists of a stale piece of bread with jelly for breakfast, a piece of ham and a piece of cheese dipped in frying batter and put on a plate for lunch (yes.. I'm serious), and a piece of pork with more fat than meat fried in oil and paired with fried zucchini. I don't know how people eat here regularly and don't have heart attacks.

The good thing is every now and then they have great fresh fruits or a really great piece of chicken that I don't want to regurgitate. But then it's a war to get more than one measly piece from the clutches of the cafeteria ladies.

 So we students have taken to a hit-and-run tactic. We take as much as we will eat and make a beeline for the table while the staff yells at us from behind the glass serving counter. They never do venture out to yell at us at the table, maybe there's an invisible force field I can't see.

Some of us use the passive aggressive technique of being ignorant. "Lo siento, no entiendo," we say as we walk away with our food. This is a war long in coming though. As I've mentioned before the Spanish don't like outsiders (so much so that the birth rate is dropping faster than Paris Hilton's underwear) and are an expressive culture which leads to the staff being very verbal about their dislike of us (especially the Indian/Arabic students). They don't think we know what they are saying, but we do. The moment one of us snaps back in Spanish they tend to quiet down when around students.

It's a self-perpetuating cycle we have jumped head-first into. I'm ashamed, but I'm in it. We are expected to be rude foreigners so they treat us with disrespect, in turn we are offended and disrespect them in the same manner.

 I tried. For weeks I smiled and asked for second helpings of good food (making sure to compliment them on what I liked) and asked for only as much as I wanted to eat. I said please and thank you. 

I was met by grunts and by being told that I should eat whatever I was served, how much I was served, and like it. Eventually I gave up, I took what I was given silently and left many plates uneaten and wasted food. I would rudely walk up and take second helpings and walk away without acknowledging that I was being chastised. 

This cycle really does have to end. But until then I wonder if they understand the term "food fight" in Spain.

Two things that come from Spain..

 Wednesday night I went with the girls to a Flamenco show because it was 10€ that evening. It was certainly not a traditional Flamenco show, it was more of a tourist trap with a lot of pre-recorded music and group dances that were choreographed to hell. Still, it was a beautiful demonstration of the traditional dance moves and the live band was great when they actually played.

It has been very cool learning about things in my culture class and then seeing them actualized in museums or shows. We'd just learned a lot about Flamenco so seeing all of the moves and the feet-stomping along with the music (live that is) and singing was actually very interesting.

Still, it wasn't the original people-dancing-on-the-street-out-of-joy Flamenco that I would have liked

The dance consists of a lot of foot-stomping not unlike Riverdance. But moreover it reminded me of something else. Watch these two videos and tell me if they don't seem similar?

The first is the traditional foot-movements of a Flamenco dancer and the second the Fino gait of the Paso Fino horse which originated in Spain and then was bred to a bunch of feral horses to become what it is today. I guess the Spanish like clod-hoppers.

In other news I am sick. Everyone has been sick and I've now caught it so I've spent the past two days trying to get better. It sucks because this is the last weekend I have in Madrid but I would rather rest now than be miserable back-packing through Europe, right?

I have finals Monday and Aixa and I leave Tuesday evening to begin our adventure. Hard to believe that this time next week I will be in Rome!

Salamanca no es bueno para las resacas.

Last Saturday we all got up bright and early to visit the city of Salamanca. It was quite a long bus ride, nearly 3 hours, which we had not been warned about. The good thing about this was it gave those of us who had been at the bar until 3 am (don't look at me) some time to sleep.

Unlike Toledo, Salamanca was unpleasantly hot. I can't complain too much though, we have been lucky to have received unusually cool weather in Madrid for this time of year. Now the temperature is creeping  up to bearable but not enjoyable temperatures. Unfortunately for everyone with a hangover Salamanca involved a lot of walking in the heat.

The city seems to be wedding central, as we saw at least 4 occurring. In the photo above you can see the government building of the Plaza Mayor and wedding guests on the terrace. As that wedding was occurring, a second bride pulled up at the entrance below. 

Salamanca is famous as a college town. I'm serious here. Its university was founded in 1218 and continues to hold classes today. Therefore students make up a hefty chunk of its population. Its a very odd mental image to transfer what I know as a "college town" (consisting of belligerent alcoholics) into the cobblestone streets of this old city. It seems to me like a bad Disney movie where a young kid is sent back in time to Camelot to wreak havoc on the kingdom.

Of course this isn't the case. Students and young people here grow up in a culture that uses and respects alcohol so much in its daily life that the stereotypes don't exist like in the states. Still, it's humorous for me to, in my mind, transplant the residents of Gainesville after winning the basketball championships into the streets of Salamanca.

The city does have its own stigma's though. The university was at one time known for prostitution. Its mascot is the frog because (if I heard correctly in Spanish) apparently priests would go back and forth from the university to the cathedral trying to instill morality into the students. The image is a frog hopping from lily pad to lily pad.

Either way it is an ethereal city. The architecture is done in a beautiful Baroque style with a  gothic-era Cathedral that you can see in the second photo. 

Unfortunately I forgot my memory card so you can all thank my best friend for these photos. She doesn't know I've taken them but what she doesn't know can't hurt her.

Either way, we were able to climb up to the towers in the Cathedral (with minimal drama, they didn't like that we wanted to be our own guides which resulted in us being yelled at when we wandered off from the group on our own). It was a beautiful view with a  very windy terrace that had me resembling Marilyn Monroe in my dress. 

What I liked best about the Cathedral was its very tiny passageways. While this was terrible with the entire group of us, once we split off I found myself enjoying the coziness of the inside halls. Of course now you can see power and water lines against the smooth rock but I could envision priests and workers scurrying through the halls.

The last picture of me is inside one of these said tunnels. As you can see I can't even extend my arms, and I'm not some amazonian woman. I think my arms may be 5 feet in length if that. Very narrow passageways.

Would the picture not be cooler if I were holding a torch?

la Reina Sofia

My day to day life here in Spain rarely changes its pace during the week. I get up and go to class and then return to the dorm for my favorite event of the day: siesta time. It's only at the end of the week and weekends that take a turn from the mundane. 

That's the best explanation I have as to why I have been getting phone calls from home about my lack of updates. What did you people do when you had to wait for people to return home before hearing stories? At least I'm sparing you the slide show.

Thursday we found ourselves at la Reina Sofía Museum of Modern Art. I was particularly excited about this day because aside from Picasso's Guernica and Dalí's The Great Masturbator there is also an entire two wings dedicated to Joan Miró and his work. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside, and I mean unfortunately for them because I did despite the hundreds of workers and signs.

Here we have a piece of bacon situated outside the museum. I don't know if it's really a piece of bacon but that's what I have decided based on two things:

1.It looks like bacon

2.The Spanish eat more pig than the family in Babe.

I moderately disliked pork to begin with, it would never be my first choice. Now I loathe all meats that come from anything with a corkscrew tail. Our cafeteria particularly likes to serve pig in everything: pasta, soup, salads, veggie mixes. They even served us just a slice of ham deep fried. I think they are stereotyping Americans a little bit here. But less I digress, the war of food with our cafeteria staff is a better story for later.

The museum itself was beautiful and I wish I could have taken more photos. The more popular exhibits had 5-6 guards and Guernica even had an alarm that sounded if you stepped closer than 5 feet from the painting. This piece of Miró art was found in the back corner of the room housing The Great Masturbator.

The guards were very little concerned with looking in my direction so here is one of his many sculptures.

Later I found an entire wing of Miró and his contemporaries. Luckily the guard was more adamant about texting on her cell phone than monitoring me, so I was able to snap a few shots.

I won't lie, I completely understand why people were walking around saying "I could do that!" 

Art is never for art's sake. Most of these artists are displayed and remembered today for the history they made with their art more than for the fact that they put colors down on a canvas.

I actually stayed to listen to our tour guide talk about Miró and learned a few things: of the three [he, Dalí and Picasso] he was the only non-womanizer who had one wife who he stayed with, his drawings were inspired by idle doodling, and he never named a painting until he had finished it and often gave it literal meanings [i.e. Woman and Bird]

This is probably a good thing because otherwise we'd be left mystified.  To say he was abstract is a bit of an understatement.

I was disappointed that the gift shop was severely lacking in Miró gifts. Aside from the sketch book I'm holding, I only found a few other things.

Barcelona will be a much better site for Miró as it is his hometown. Although I will only have one day there I hope to fit in his museum as well as some paella and sangria on Las Ramblas.

It's hard to believe that in one week I will be leaving here to embark on an equally exciting journey that will take even more energy out of me. 

Boy will I miss those siesta's.

Days 7&8: Toledo not Ohio.

Toledo was a city and an experience I did not expect to enjoy as much as I did. I knew a little about the city, mostly hailed for its iron-making skills and therefore swords and knives. What I wasn't expecting was to see a city whose original architecture and culture was so well-preserved that it was like visiting a different world completely. 

There's been a lot of things I have seen since being here that were much like a movie, but Toledo really was like being on a movie set. It's hard to walk up it's steep hills and through it's narrow alleyways and not think you're walking through the set for the Battle of Helms Deep in The Lord Of The Rings. Granted, it has modernized itself. There are cars and technology, internet café's and an entire economy that relies heavily on tourism. Still, it retains all of its structure dating pre-1492.

The other thing I found fascinating was the religious diversity of the city. Having been occupied by the Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Catholics it is considered the city of multiple religions. There is a Cathedral, Mosque and Synagogue and the buildings have been influenced heavily by each era of control of the city.

There is both the highly ornate decoration from the era of the visigoths with their tall sharp cathedrals and gargoyles, as well as the more muted curves of the Arabic arches.

The insides are equally as impressive as the outsides, with tons of religious idols in the cathedrals fashioned from gold, porcelain and silver. The mosques have a more simple beauty which may or may not have been forced by catholic rule. It's the archs and the tile that makes it so simply ornate.

 Inside the Cathedral is the only Mosque inside a Catholic church in the entire world. It faces Mecca and was allowed to be built by one of the last Catholic kings to rule before la Reconquista. Toledo was a town where, more or less, the two religions lived in relative harmony on a political scale. Catholic Kings were, at one point, tolerant of the Arabic population.

Today the town is a beautiful representation of what we can only imagine was life before America even existed. Walking through the streets there you can just picture the horse-drawn carts and masses of people walking around in pre-colonial attire. It's probably the only place I have been in the entire world where you can just picture how life was before any sort of technology. Even Rome with it's beautiful ruins cannot recreate such images as one gets in Toledo. You don't have to imagine how the buildings were. 

The roads haven't been paved over - trust me I know. They are all made of individual stones which you can feel as you walk. Although the stones have been flattened by hundreds of years of use they still protrude from the street. Walking was quite a task but my feet are getting used to uneven pavement.

The only sad thing I have to report about Toledo is that it seems to have let its penchant for tourists outweigh its authenticity. There is much in the city that is geared toward tourism, cheap shops and Western food. I think the people of Toledo are a bit bitter toward the invasion of their city by bus-loads of people each day. You can see it in how they treat the people who come through. I can't say I blame them, but I guess it's much like those of us who choose to live in Orlando and work at Disney - tourists happen.

Still, the city and it's surroundings are so beautiful. I love the hills and the picturesque scenery. It's so different from the flatlands of Florida or even the mountains of New York. Here the rural hills meet urban cities and for that I will come back with calves of steel.

I am not surprised why people choose to live there in the least bit. It would be like waking up in the Middle Ages every day. 

I was lucky enough to have a city native as my guide. My professor of Conversation, actually. She was born and raised in the city and had a lot of interesting perspectives and stories about growing up there. Apparently one cannot wear heels in the city and therefore she dreaded being in weddings. Quite interesting to see it from a native's perspective.

In fact, most of our trips have our professors as guides. It's wonderful how much these people know about their own heritage and how much they have to share. It's not just about Spanish history but also about their culture and the customs.

A group of people went to Pamplona to see the running of the bulls. As much as I wanted to go I couldn't justify spending 45 euro to spend 12 hours in the city where I'd have to stay up all night. I would have loved to have gone though.

Today, Sunday, was a day for relaxing. Sleeping in was nice and my body was greatful for the rest. We went to visit a student who is going home due to medical reasons and our whole group went out for café and pasteles (pastries). It was nice.

Another group decided to go see a bullfight tonight. That is one thing I would love to see while here, but I'm afraid I won't be able to stomach it. I know that it is a rich part of the Spanish culture and I respect that wholeheartedly, but I don't know that I could sit through the killing of six bulls when they aren't even given a chance to fight back. If it was a true fight, where the matador had as much of a chance of dying as the bull, then I would go. As much as I respect the tradition I don't know that I can partake in it.

One thing I can say is that at least they consume the bull. It isn't like the Mexican Horse Tripping where it's done cruelly for no reason. At least this bull is killed and not left to live in the pain it has endured. For that I am greatful.

Tomorrow is back to school, but it's really not so bad. I don't dread getting up and I know that once class is over I have the days to explore. It's hard to believe I have been here an entire week.

Days 4-6:

Tuesday after class we visited the "Palacio Real" (Royal Palace). It's still in use today although the royal family doesn't live there - they only receive guests and hold banquets there. I visited the last time I was here but I was able to appreciate it much more this time around with all the history I've been learning.

My Spanish Culture class is probably the most interesting class I have taken. I knew a bit about Spain and it's origins and political system, but I didn't realize the intensity of the new democracy or the history behind it all. I think it's amazing that former dictator Franco left the country in the hands of the current king and he chose to democratize the nation instead of ruling it with sole authority. It is probably the most noble act I have heard in modern times. 

It's noble, too, that neither the king nor the queen sit in their thrones or wear their crowns. Interesting, huh? 

I think moreso I liked the stories the guide was telling us about each of the former kings and how they contributed little by little to the palace. It's a beautiful place and sadly I couldn't take pictures inside. Luckily the outside is just as beautiful.

Wednesday and Thursday were nice days for relaxing. I'm glad to say I don't have much homework at all and it has left me a lot of time to wander the city. We went out for tapas one night and last night was mostly spent sleeping.

I've found all of Madrid very interesting. It's such a large city with so many winding streets that I tend to lose my bearings rather quickly - it certainly isn't the grid of Manhattan that I'm used to. It adds to the charm and is also cause for more exploring as we  tend to get a little bit lost the further we venture into the city.

Perhaps the thing I find most interesting is the modernization of such an old culture and how it clashes with the traditional ways. I guess the best example I have is the relations between women and men. Many women in Spain live alone and often don't marry. They work and they support themselves and have the additude that they don't want men in their lives. This seems to be a normal thing for the modern woman but the issue has gotten so out of hand that the birth rate has lowered so much that the government offers money to those who have children.

The problem is that before 1975 you needed a husband to work - women had to have a license to work from their husband so no husband = no job. With the democratization of Spain women were finally free and they shot up in everything: they surpassed the number of men enrolled in universities and in high-paying positions. Men prettymuch stayed the same.

According to my professors Spanish men still seem to be very regressive and keep women out of things like bullfighting and fútbol (soccer), and expect women to be domestic. Because of this women choose to live alone instead of taking care of a husband. I definitely see this every day - men treat women like objects as they walk around and it's not subtle nor creepy - it's a part of everyday life. I'm not a feminist but it's just so strange that one sex has made leaps and bounds into equality and the other hasn't.

This is especially weird considering Spain is a nation that is very concerned with socialism. They have an open border policy and yet their women make 30% less than men in the same exact position. It's a little baffling.

All in all I find the Spanish to be exhilarating. They are so expressive and passionate and I definitely think that's something we lack in the states. It's perfectly OK in Spain for someone to raise their voice and yell, we choose to bottle it until we explode. I see in their quality of life that being expressive is just so much better.

Today we visited the Senate, I don't have too much to say about that except that we intend to go back when it is in session and see if we can watch.

Tomorrow is a trip to Toledo and there will be lots of pictures to share.

Day 3: Accomodations

This is my dorm, el Colegio Mayor Mendel. It's generally an all-boys school during the year and the remaining few students seemed overly excited to see women. I'm not sure if it's directly associated with the University of Nebrija where I study, but regardless that would be it.

Here we have the view from my front door. Directly to the right when you come in is my sink, the left is my bathroom and ahead the room opens up.

And here it is from the desk looking back to the front door. The bed is low and small but comfortable as far as I'm concerned. 

This is my desk as I was unpacking. Note the large bottle of water - Madrid is indeed a dry heat. The view directly in front of me is that building but to the left is a magnificent view of the University.

Here is my great view of Nebrija. I have to walk there every morning, but it's not as far of a walk as NYU was. 

However, we do have to climb this ridiculous set of stairs to get there. It's not too bad, but the hill is very steep. 

Boy will I come back with buns of steel!

And the last for the night, a photo at sundown.

I had my placement exam today for the University. Initially I was placed at an intermediate level but only a few moments into the class I knew it was a level I'd surpassed. Perhaps I should have stayed in for better grammar, but Professor Lamboy suggested moving me up quite a few levels and I fell into a class that I feel really comfortable with.

I'm taking two classes: one is a culture class that is taught completely in Spanish and covers mostly the history of Spain. The professor is a hoot and when I told him I was related to the Miró he promised never to wash his hand again.

The other class I haven't attended, but it's a conversation class. After NYU I'm fairly comfortable speaking, but I still worry. I have a few friends in each class and it's wonderful.

There was also a third class I could have taken, but I'd taken it prior to coming here and I didn't feel it was necessary to take on a bigger load. It is already tough fitting homework in between the daily grind and excursions we go on. Luckily the homework seems rather simple and the professors double as our tour guides around the city so they know when to give us less to do.

So my schedule is as follows:

Monday/Wednesday: 

1. 10:00 am : Conversation
   
2. 11:40 am : Culture
   

Tuesday/Thursday:

1. 8:30 am : Conversation
2. 11:40 am : Culture

Friday:

1. 10:00 am : Culture

I like being out by 1pm every day and having one class on Friday will be nice. I can sleep in some days and other days get out early.

Being here I find myself thinking in Spanish already. I didn't think it would happen so quickly. Even as I type this blog I want to write "cosas en español" because it is where my mind is. I'm happy to say that immersing yourself in another culture and language really does help.

On a darker note, there's a possibility this trip could come to an end this week. A few people complained to the University, the Embassy and the Department of State about our living conditions. The building is under construction and there is a bit of dust while work is going on. Also we were supposed to have AC but ended up in buildings without it. Apparently this is "unfit" living conditions (according to the e-mails) and UCF had to send the director of the Study Abroad program to look into it.

I personally don't see the big deal. I dealt with worse at NYU and people with respiratory problems have the option to move to a dorm with AC and less dust. I like the place I'm at a lot and I like being with the group. One or two people in particular did the complaining and for it to get to the Embassy they had to have connections. If the director and Embassy decided that this place is unfit they will cancel the program.

However, in our meeting today those of us who have no problems made it clear that if they decide to cancel this it will probably be a bigger headache. I don't really understand why the people who have issues can't just go home - UCF offered them a refund of the program fees - I think what they really want is better dorms and not to be separated from the group, to demand more posh accommodations . But it's unfair that a few people exaggerating some construction can ruin it for the group they are supposedly trying to help.

I'm not really one to complain in person, that's why I blog. I deal well with all situations in reality and really dust and being woken up at 7am is no worse than what I dealt with last semester. Furthermore, we're in Europe. The residents surrounding us deal with the construction and the dust in their homes. I think people came into this with expectations of grandeur, people who probably haven't been abroad. Those of us who have been abroad seem to be relatively happy. I mean it's Europe - it's crowded and dusty and dirty in the big cities with lots of noise and construction. It just is how it is.

I think what bothers me the most is that we are sharing these dorms with people from all sorts of countries: the Netherlands, China, Africa, Germany, Hungary - there's even other groups from the US - and ours is the only group having any issues. It's all blown out of proportion and a little ridiculous.

I hope the program isn't cancelled because UCF will be out a lot of money refunding everyone's money and flights - even though they say they won't pay for flights I can't imagine how else everyone could get home. We don't want papers reading "University strands students abroad," do we?

Day 2: Settling

Flying into Spain was a breathtaking experience. I love mountains and Spain has an impressive landscape that I wasn't prepared for. The view was fabulous.

Although I fought to stay awake, I was asleep before the plane even took off. It was a surprisingly short flight and I woke up as we descended to take these pictures and get a good look at the land. I'd been here before, but never flown over it.

Ten years of Spanish is really beginning to show itself. I was surprised how fluidly I settled into speaking it. I was able to reiterate directions to the taxi driver and have a nice conversation with him on the way over. It's amazing how much you learn from people if you just open your mouth and act pleasantly. He regaled directions and landmarks for the entire ride and I was just enjoying the architecture and the vibrance of the city.

Getting checked in was a bit scary as the receptionist didn't know who I was, but all things went well. My best friend Aixa is my neighbor and the building and my room is wonderful. It's single rooms with their own bathrooms, I have a great little closet and shelves and a nice desk by my window with a great view of the school and mountains. There's also a pool and a bar in-house.

Despite no air conditioning, it's great. The heat hasn't been bad at all and I've worn a sweater most of the day today. I heard there was some complaints about where we are living - construction is going on and there's dust - but I have no qualms about a little dust.

Last night was fantastic. I stayed up and went out to a club called Kapital. It's seven stories of dance floors with music ranging from 90's dance to salsa and hip-hop. There was a little bit of everything for everyone.

We danced the night away. 

The first floor was a wave of bodies raving together and every now and then they'd blow a burst of cold air on the crowd that was so thick you couldn't see the people around you. It was everything I'd imagine a club in Europe to be like.

I was hoping to have more pictures but my computer is being rather slow. Today was spent uploading all my pictures and also Aixa's so my laptop has taken a beating. I will have them later though.

Day 1: Travel

I have made it successfully out of the country but I cannot say that I've made it to my final destination. I'm currently laying around Dublin Airport where I have been for the last 10 hours.

After finding out my flight was cancelled last night I was rushed onto an earlier flight which put me in Dublin about 11pm EST or 4am Dublin time. It was a very long flight and I found myself wishing I'd brought a book.

The biggest perk was that by some miracle I was seated in an empty middle row - that's 4 whole seats to myself! Did I stretch out and take advantage of all that room? You bet I did. The problem is that "all that room" is still a very confined space and I find it near impossible to sleep comfortably as it is, and no matter how hard I clenched my ass was numb only an hour into the flight.

In addition to that there was one child aboard who was screaming his lungs out. Not baby squeals or a child's tantrum but a heart-wrenching wail that persisted the entire flight. By the end of the 5 hours he had screamed himself hoarse and continued to squeak through the entire landing.

Needless to say my sleep was very very limited.

It didn't help that I had another 12 hours to wait to transfer flights. On international flights you can only transfer directly with a boarding pass which I didn't have so I was kicked out to the check-in desk where I was told I couldn't check in until 1pm (this was at 5am). So I went upstairs to this very nice and lovely cafe with comfortable chairs and decided I'd nap.

Know what? Airport security doesn't like you napping in their cafeteria. Although I strained to stay awake and kept nodding off no matter where or how I was sitting, I was continuously woken up. While I understand they don't want vagrants lying around, it was 5am and I had 12 hours to kill - can't a girl get some  rest?

So instead I bought wireless internet and here I am 11 hours later. Hopefully I will board the flight to Madrid very soon and be able to nap my way into Spain.

Now the question is: How do I beat jet lag?