i get by

sefira and kelley eating delicious gofres and crepes

So its probably about time to talk about my life in Cordoba! I can't believe I'm more than halfway through my program. Its going by insanely quickly! I'm at Cafe di Roma now, a cafe really close to my house thats open during siesta and I remember going to this cafe one of the first few days of the program with two girls and having my first cafe con leche and gofre (waffle with melted chocolate on it) and talking about what our program was going to be like and our first impressions of our families and how our spanish was awful. Now I feel much more adjusted to live in Cordoba and more confident with my spanish, although I still have moments of tongue-tied frustration. Anyway, I have to leave for my flamenco class soon but the picture up top is of my two best friends here- Sefira y Kelley. Sefira is an adorable little hippie girl from Santa Cruz who is a lot like me in our general outlook on the world and also our taste in clothing (which is awesome because i'm always stealing her clothes), but also different enough so that I'm learning a lot from her. Kelley is a conservative from so-cal who loves country music (so basically the complete opposite of me) but she never takes herself too seriously and so whenever im constantly laughing when i'm around her. This is starting to sound kind of yearbooky/ birthday card-ish so i'm gonna stop here, but suffice to say that i've found some really amazing people here that i'm sure i'll be friends with for the rest of my life. Well as usual I'm late and my computer is running out of battery so this is the end, my friends. 

peace,

christine

Morocco, Semana Santa

moroccan homie chillin outside the market

So I think I'm going to start doing some sort of photo diary on this thing where I update daily (or ya know, try to) with a photo and a little thing about what I've been up to. Well the week before last was Semana Santa (holy week) in Spain and thus my spring break. I spent the first weekend in Morocco with a 4 day program and it was unbelievable. Having already been to Morocco with my family I didn't really expect to be wowed all over again but this trip was so cool because we got to meet a lot of Moroccan people and really talk to them. Moroccan people are so sincerely warm and friendly! It was a great experience. Then I spent the next two days in a small town in the south of spain called Tarifa. It was a windy little beach town that reminded me a lot of Pismo Beach. I went back to Cordoba for a night then hit up Granada for a couple days because Lauren and her friend Gilly were visiting from Rome! We had a blast the first night hitting up some bars and discotecas, then did the important touristy stuff and Friday night ate at a delicious restaurant where a woman danced flamenco and a man played flamenco guitar while we ate. Lauren and I split a gianormous salad that was so big the croutons had to be made out of toasted pieces of bread with melted brie on top. Don't worry, Lauren and I took that thing down. Our next course was swordfish with melted butter, parsley and baby garlic sauce. Um, hi. Melt in your mouth, much? So freaking good. Yea, that didn't last long either. And throughout the night Kirsten's bomb dad, Adolf, kept the pitchers of sangria flowing. For dessert we hit up an ice cream place where Lo and I got the speciality of ice cream cake in a cone. Weird, but really good. Then Saturday I returned to Cordoba to check out the scene here, but it was raining hard so I stayed in and watched Harold and Maude. So that was my spring break in a nutshell and I'm in the library right now and I'm pretty sure its closing cause its like 10. 

Paz,

Christine

Quick-style highlights from Roma

Since I'm already in Cordoba and I have much to update from Carnival/ getting settled here, I'm going to give you the highlights from my trip to Rome. 

-landed around 930ish and like the good little world traveler i am managed not to get tricked into paying 80 euros for a taxi into the city

-took a cab to the pub i was told to go to, realized how awkward i looked with all my luggage, got a text for Lauren that said: DO NOT go to the pub, come to my apartment. 

-took a cab to her apartment, wearily threw down my shit and crawled into bed trying not to think about all the money I spent that day

-dropped them off at school the next day and successfully walked around for a few hours without seeing anything of much importance besides the pantheon (which is cool)

-delicious dinner with Lauren and Mike that night, like 16 courses, wine and free lemoncelo! (cello?)

-after dinner, walk to my favorite part of Rome hands down- the Trevi Fountain. Which is even more beautiful at night with the lights on and much less tourists around. We tossed some coins into the fountain, found ourselves some gelato and called it a night

-next day walked like 20,000 miles in my CONVERSE seeing stuff, most importantly a beautiful view of Rome. I think I severely screwed up my left foot though. 

-went back to Lauren's piso, then me, her and Mike went on adventure for the best gelato in Rome. We found it. And it was.

-next day I got on the plane on time miraculously and found my way back to granada! 

I'm actually in Cordoba right now and siesta just ended so I think I'm gonna go exploring. Coming soon: Carnival, Cordoba

peace

Paris hates me

Well I think its sufficient to say that my trip to Paris has been a disastre. That being said, I loved (almost) every minute of it! It was one of the trips that goes in No Way as planned and thus turns into a crazy adventure. It started off normal enough. I got up at 6 am on thursday in Granada and took a cab to the airport. I arrived in Paris around 10 am and took the RER (metro) to Paul's hood. He lives in the fifth arrondissement near the Latin Quarter. Its a nice location and he has a view of Notre Dame from his balcony. So I was walking up the stairs from the metro station and I just looked up at these beautiful buildings and right then my ipod froze and I was just so overwhelmed by how incredible the city really is. I had forgotten since the last time I had visited, but Paris is really an unbelievable place. Every street corner and forgotten alleyway is full of character and actually really breathtaking. It sounds cheesy in words but I'm not even exaggerating. Hopefully I'll be able to come back soon.

Anyway, you're probably thinking at this point, okay where is the distastre? Well, the first day in Paris went smoothly. Paul had class so I wandered around by myself, exploring the area around his house. I saw the Seine and Notre Dame. I got lost but then I was found and I took about a million pictures. (I would post pictures on here, but they are too big and I don't know how to make them smaller, if anyone has any ideas....) Then I had dinner with Tanive and Paul at a Latin American restaurant and it was delicious! I was just stoked to get something that resembled mexican food. I had a veggie burrito. It was a fun dinner except for the part where I played the doorman throughout the meal because I sat right next to the door and whenever people left they didn't close it behind them. Then when closed it my waitress glared at me. Then when I didn't close all the people in the restaurant yelled "fermez la porte!" It was a tough job. 

So the next day I talked to my mom about my lack of medication and she called the embassy who told her that I needed to go to the "Hopital American." The American Hospital was actually located just outside Paris but was accessible by the metro so I sent Paul to school and found my way over there. It was actually a really nice neighborhood and good escape from the busy city. At the hospital I was directed to emergency because I didn't have an appointment. The receptionist there spoke perfect English and was incredibly nice! She took down my info and sent me to the waiting room. In the waiting room the guy sitting across from me asked me about my camera and then we go to talking about traveling and the world. He was visiting his parents who lived in Paris but he lived in Beijing where he taught children English. He said he got his undergrad in the states but his masters in China and also in lived in Switzerland for 6 years. I couldn't tell where he was from originally though because he had some weird accent that might have just developed from living in such different places. Anyway the receptionist had told me that it would hopefully take less than an hour to see a doctor and it would probably cost at least 140 euros. After about 15 minutes in the waiting room the nurse called me in to ask me questions then sent me the doctor. The doctor was really nice and gave me a prescription and had me out the door in 3 minutes. The receptionist then told me it would be 60 euros and that my insurance would probably cover it when I got home. Sweeet. After my success at the hospital I went in search of a pharmacy. The first pharmacy I got to told me they could get my meds the next morning but since I was on such a roll I decided to hold out. The next place I went had my stuff and sent me on my way. Hooray!

After that I decided to head over to the champs-elysee since I was already on the other side of Paris. I saw the arc de triumph and was approached by strange Norweigan man who asked if I was travelling alone. (uh no...i'm with my friend, HE'S around here somewhere..) Then I walked around and did a little shopping. Then I went back to Paul's apartment to find a note on the door from him explaining that he'd already left, but to call him. I soon met up with him by the metro stop and we went out to a bar called Tribal Cafe. It was still happy hour so we had a few pints of beer for pretty cheap. We ended up staying till 2 leaving just in time to catch the last metro home. The next day I felt like I was going to die because of the food poisoning so I stayed in all day and watched sex and the city on youtube and talked to mom on the phone. The next day was my last day in Paris and I was determined to enjoy it since I was officially healthy and medicated. Paul and I hit some big spots and some little ones as well including: the champs elysee (again), pere lachaise cemetery (where Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison and other famous peeps were buried) and this really cute bookstore that sold English books that I want to work at some day. All in all it was a great day. We finished it up with a delicious italian meal and got to bed fairly early so I could catch my 8:35 flight to Rome....not early enough though because I ended up missing the flight. Paris wanted to keep me a little bit longer so it could continue to torture me. Basically I spent the next 9 hours at CDG wasting way to much money on the internet because of the sketchy way they have it set up and eating airport food which is almost as bad as airplane food. Finally at 6:25 I got on my flight to Rome! Peace out paris..

Hola Amigos!

Hey there friends. Well I've been in europe for almost a week now so I guess its time for an actual update. I flew to Granada last Wednesday, the 16th from SFO. I had an 11 hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany then a 2 hour flight to Madrid then a 5 hour layover in Madrid where i watched Superbad on my computer, which made me feel less homesick, then an hour flight to Granada. I didn't sleep much except for the last flight. It was cool, though, moving from America to Germany to Spain in such a short time and seeing cultural differences. In America and Germany you take off your shoes for going through security and for Spain you don't. Also, in Germany a tall German woman in a short skirt walks around with a cane to keep people in line. At least she did when I was there. 

Then I spent 5 days in Granada. I stayed in Kirsten's piso (apartment) which is cozy and nice. She lives with a Spaniard, 2 Germans and an Italian. They were all really friendly and we ate a few lunches together. 

I don't want to make this thing ridiculously long so I'll just go over the highlights. Of course seeing Kirsten after 6 long months was amazing! Being able to drink legally was fun, too. Kirsten and I didn’t do anything too crazy because she and her friends have finals coming up so they’re mostly studying but on Friday night we went for tapas (I’ll elaborate in a bit) then stopped at this bar where we ordered rum with limone. It was a small bar with not that many people but they played American music and music videos like usher which was fun. Then the bartender gave us free drinks of some sort in big martini glasses. Then free shots of something sweet. Then free lollipops! It was fantastic. (Don’t worry mom, it really wasn’t that much alcohol). That was our only bar experience there, though. However, tapas was one of my favorite parts of Granada! Basically the Spaniards have dinner at like 9:30/10ish so you go to tapas bars then and order a round of drinks and you get a free tapa with it. Its usually a small dish of meat or fried something with papas fritas (French fries). The papas fritas were my favorite part, mostly because I didn’t the meat stuff (still a veggie). One night Kirsten, her friends Michelle and Andrew and I went to a tapas bar called la Bella y la Bestia.  It was really crowded and we had to stand and these weird Scottish men kept bumping into us. But still fun. At this place the tapas got bigger each round. So the first tapa was small, second tapa bigger, third tapa big and we couldn’t get to the first tapa. Kirsten said she has never made it to the fourth. I think that sounds like a challenge. Its hard to get more than three because you have a drink plus really bready food and then another and then more food, etc. Its great though because you end up getting dinner for the price of your drinks. My favorite drinks were tintos veranos. Delicious. I hope I explained that tapas thing so you can understand. If you don’t, just ask me. Or better yet, come to Spain! I will show you.

So, on Monday Kirsten took me to the Alhambra. Which is like the biggest tourist attraction in Granada. It got second place for greatest architectural masterpiece in the world, or something. It was Queen Elizabeth’s crib and the place that Columbus went to her for money to go to the Americas. *cough* and then slaughter all my ancestors *cough*. It was really beautiful. And the park that was attached was like a fairy tale. There were even peacocks running around. Peacocks are actually pretty scary, I discovered. So that was nice. And then on the way home we stopped at the little Arabic market thing, which is basically little shops on the sides of crooked little cobble stone streets. It reminded me so much of Morocco and the medina there. I got a couple souvenirs there.

I also saw Marianne a few times! Kirsten, her and I had dinner together twice once at Kirsten’s then at Mariannes. It was fun, just like old times…except missing the A in our MACK Daddy. We made plans to travel to England to visit our A though, so that’s good. It really reminded me how much I miss Santa B and having all of my friends together in one place. It really has been a long time. I can’t wait for senior year.

Yesterday I went to class with Kirsten. It was an English class though so I could understand everything. She has a very pretty campus and each facultad has their own section.

Today I woke up at 5:30 (!) and took a taxi to the Granada airport and left for Paris! I had a little slip-up because I had told Paul I was coming into Orly so he gave me directions to his apartment from basically the other side of paris. But, I’m such a world traveler now I found my way pretty easily. I met paul at the station and he showed me his apartment. Its small but really cute and in a great location. Then Paul had to go to class so I ate some pizza at a café and then walked around the neighborhood a little. I popped into the Notre Dame and took some pictures of the beautiful stained glass windows then wandered through the narrow alleys until I was lost. I kept walking until I was found and ended up back in Paul’s apartment watching Sex and the City on sidereel. Tonight, dinner with Paul and Tanive. 

Also, here's my new travel plans (slightly changed):

Jan 23rd-28: Paris

Jan 28th: Fly to Rome

Jan 31st: Fly from Rome to Granada

Feb 1st: Bus to Cadiz for carnival

Feb 2nd: Bus back to Granada

Feb 3rd: Train to Cordoba for orientation

Wow. Que vida!

Alright, paz amigos! Dos besos!

so..

the font is really much bigger when you're actually writing the post. it looks smaller when its published. 

No hablo

Hi! Wow. This font is much bigger than I thought it would be. Okay. So, I'm leaving for Spain in less than a week so I figured I should create a blog so I can keep everyone informed about my adventure. If you're not aware I'll be studying in Cordoba, Spain which is a city in the southern province of Spain called Andalusia. It is visible on this map:

Kirsten and Marianne are living in Granada for the year, which is pretty close by. I am actually flying to Granada to stay with Kirsten first. My program starts later than most of the others (Feb. 3rd) so I'm going to be traveling around Europe for a couple weeks. This is my (fairly) concrete schedule:

Jan 16th-17th fly to Granada

Jan 23rd fly to Paris to see my good friends Paul and Tanive!

Jan 28th fly to Rome to see Lauren and Mike!!

Feb 1st/2nd fly back to Granada

Feb 3rd train to Cordoba for orientation!

Wow. I'm dizzy just looking at that. Its going to be amazing and I will be taking millions of pictures so everyone can be jealous of me. :)

Well I hope that you enjoy my blog and I'll keep you updated! 

Also, while abroad I know that I am going to miss all of my wonderful friends in SB and at home and my family so please send me emails and pictures and letters and love! (I'll let you know my address when I get it). Oh, if you didn't know I'm staying with a homestay! Its going to be crazy. Mostly since no hablo espanol. well, no muy bien. And my classes will be taught in spanish! Thank goodness the drinking age is practically nonexistent. 

Okay. I don't really know how to end this, so. The end! Peace out.

PS: The url for this, camposdesomething, means field of feathers and it comes from this spanish proverb that i like. and it sounds cool. and its pretty much the only one available. also, spanish castle magic is jimi hendrix song and i was getting really stressed out picking the perfect names for my blog so i was just like, whatever. so thats the story on that.