hey there blogsphere, long time no see!

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while... I have been super busy and I have lots to say, so I had to wait until I had enough time to sit down and write it all out (which of course, led to more time passing with even more to write.) So I might break this down into two entries, haha. Wait for more tomorrow.

In primary news, I am sick, which sucks. I knew it was coming because most everyone has been fighting this cold and it was only a matter of time. My throat hurts and I'm all congested. Hopefully if I rest today it will go away :(

Let's see -- I haven't updated since last... Wednesday? Well, on Thursday, it was still storming, but I went for a walk around my neighborhood to try to figure out where everything was. I realized that I hadn't taken any photos of the area around my house, so I walked around and took pictures to send you all on a VIRTUAL TOUR :) During this journey, I also bought a watch -- that I realized later does not work. Silly silly.

The outside of my house. Que bonita, no?

My street. Not much to look at, but its loveable, in its own way.

As I was walking around my neighborhood, I discovered a small park, with fountains and a play structure!
That guy kept staring at me for taking pictures. I think he thought I was taking pictures of the children ahaha

Also found a very cute toy store. Who can figure out why I took a picture of this one?
(Hint: Its the green friends with big eyes on the left!)

Near my house. Look at how windy it was, you can tell by the trees.

Corte Ingles! This is more downtown and a 15 minute walk from my house.
Corte Ingles is like, the Macys of Spain.

My major landmark. Right next to Corte Ingles, this tells me that I have indeed walked the correct direction :)
Pretty, no?

Pues, I had my first Spanish exam on Friday. That went okay, I think I messed up the oral section, but what can you do? The best part of having an exam on Friday was that we were only in class for an hour, and we had the rest of the entire day to burn! I signed up for the coollesssttt excursion ever next Thursday -- it should be absolutely beautiful, and I'll tell you alll about it once it happens. (Oooh, secretive, no?) As I was walking back from the Control Tower, which is where the International Students office lives, I came across a bunch of American students who were hanging out with their intercambios. I stopped and chatted with them for a while, which was so much fun because I was sitting there, on a Spanish university campus, just hanging out with all the Spanish students, talkin' about Shakespeare. So, so great. I love the constant information exchange that happens between students. They tell me how to say expressions in Spanish and I help them with words and phrases in English -- the system works wonderfully. Plus it is fun to learn so much, from actual students instead of a teacher in an American school. I loved sitting there on the grass; it reminded me of being back at Santa Clara. Perhaps I have found my new grassy knoll? Possibly.

Old and new friends hanging out under some trees at the Universidad de Alicante.

Unfortunately, this conversation made me miss my bus (I have not yet reconciled with the bus system.) so I had to take the 24, which takes longer and is more round-about than the 36, which is what I like to take, but only comes hourly, so if you miss it, you're screwed. No worries. I got home in time for lunch, and to play with Mario, who is my madre's little nieto, which means grandson, but I think it is an adorable word for an adorable boy. We are best friends, of course.

Mario, playing with his favorite toy. He's quite the ham.

He taught me Spanish children's games and songs (like those hand-clapping games you played as a kid) and I taught him the English version, which was so cool to see the two culture's games. I taught him the hot-hands game, where you put your hands palm to palm and you try to slap the other person's hand? (You'd know if it you saw it.) He has the most adorable laugh. When he saw I was home, he ran up to me and hugged me and just keep begging me to play with him. So, so fun.

Afterwards, I got a call from my friend inviting me to the beach, so naturally I hopped on the bus and went to hang out.

Me, Sarah and Laura-Ann being quite witty.
We did the Jenna&Megan "act like I just said something really funny" picture. :)
Look at that background, it hardly looks real!

Beach princess :) Also, the water is ridiculously warm.

The crew! :) Sarah, Laura-Ann, Andrew, Adam and JT hanging out on the beach.

The beach is absolutely stunning. One of the Spaniards told me that this beach, the one we go to, was "dirty". I told her if that was dirty, I don't know what dirty meant! Looks absolutely perfect to me!

The University department of international students hosted a huge party on Friday night on the pier. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, so I don't have any pictures, but let me tell you -- it was awesome. (Or, que guay, to use my spanish.) There were students from all of the world.. we met people from Denmark, Australia, England, Norway, Sweeden, and of course, Spain. It was so neat to have so many languages and cultures in the same place. They had a GIANT paella, which is a Spanish rice dish sort of thing. So so good. Music, drinks, friends, and right on the edge of the pier, looking over the beautiful Mediterranean water and sunset. Then, all of a sudden, there's a DRUMLINE, except Spanish version. I wish wish wish I had a picture of this. There were like 15-20 people all with a variety of Spanish drums and percussion instruments, creating the coolest music. Everyone was dancing. My friends were wearing heels (silly, silly girls) so they went to sit down and rest relatively quickly, but I didn't want to stop dancing, so I just jumped in the crowd alone.

It always amazes me how music brings people together. Here we were, so many different cultures, different people, different languages, we have nothing in common except we are here, in Spain, listening to this amazing music that rocks us down to our bones. I've never heard music like that before. I honestly felt like it was music rushing under my skin, pulsing through my veins. People danced like I had never seen before, completely freed by the music and the rhythms. And here I was, dancing my soul off, underneath the Spanish sky. No, I don't know how it gets better than that.

When it was over, my friend Sarah and I took a walk along the rest of the pier. We came across a guy who was sitting all alone with a fishing pole. I sat down and started talking to him, and he told me about how he had moved to Alicante from Romania, and he was all alone in the world. His wife had left him, he said, back in 1998, and he never stopped loving her. He was so lonely, he said, and his family and friends were so far. Have you caught any fish? I asked him, and he said no, no fish, but he did have his brother, who was sitting across the way surrounded by Spanish girls. I asked him how to say "Hello," and "I love you" in Romanian, and he told me. It was a beautiful, touching moment of connection between two completely different worlds. I hugged his shoulders and told him that everything always works out right in the end, and he smiled. We left, then, off to more adventures, more connections. I don't think I'm ever going to forget the lonely fisherman, though.

We walked to the beach and met up with some other friends of ours, who had a bottle of wine and cups to spare. By now, of course, it was dark, and we sat on the edge of the ocean drinking cheap wine out of paper cups, talking about politics and philosophy until our skins were bursting from contentment. I've got to tell you, I've never seen anything more beautiful. The huge castle was lit up behind us, constantly looming overhead. The city completely alive, even though it is the middle of the night. And here we were, sitting in the dark, looking across the ocean. (Okay, okay, its a sea, but it feels like the ocean to me.)

Afterwards, we all went to the barrio to meet up with everyone and go dancing. I met up with my friend's Spanish sister and somehow ended up being the only American in her friend group! (All my other friends were there originally, but filtered out little by little.) It was really fun, but really intense at the same time. I was wishing I hadn't have helped finish that box of wine, because I needed all of my brain-power to translate what they were saying! Only one of the friends spoke English! It was incredibly fun though, and such an adventure, because I truly experienced the Spanish nightlife with students my age, not aided by anything comfortable or "safe". Jump right in, headfirst, right?

They were all really nice, and so interested in me because they hadn't hung out with an American before, especially not one from California, or San Francisco! (I tell them I'm from San Francisco because it's a lot easier. Plus, most everyone knows where it is.) I had a great time and met a lot of Spanish people -- hopefully, it will continue. :)

And all of that was only Friday! Whew. SO much happens in a day here. If you're still with me, congrats, you made it through. I will update on the rest of the weekend tomorrow.

Ahh, four more hours of Spanish class tomorrow. Yess.

I'll leave you with this:

That is the host of the game show we watch every night at dinner, called Pasapalabra. At first, I thought it was stupid, but its grown on me. Its a little bit like Jeopardy, except with Spanish vocabulary. Its a nice little ritual every night -- my family gets pretty into it! Now I'm starting to get into it too, hahahah. Plus, watching that guy is a bonus. ¿Qué guapo, no?

Vale, it is time to end this extremely long post. Perhaps the next one I'll write in Spanish and see who can translate it. Now that'd be a fun game!

Love you all, leave me notes about your life in the comments!

Amor,
Missy