Friday, November 21, 2003: ¡Andalucía!
This has been a ball!Left Corporate Finance early to catch a cab with Chris to the airport. Got the rental car no problems, and even got to add myself as a driver, which means if I get pulled over, I'll be legal. Hell, Chris didn't even sign anything! Went back home, grabbed my luggage, and was off!
Drove for a while, stopping every so often for a coffee and a rest break. Also pulled off the highway every so often for a catnap. Got into Andalucía no problem, and man was it worth it.
Arrived in Ronda at sunrise on Thursday, and the scenery was amazing. It was so worth the narrow, 1.5-lane road to see the mountains. And then coming into the town, with all the buildings whitewashed Moorish-style and the Puente Nuevo, wow.
Spent the mañana just walking around the city, doing the guidebook tour, and seeing all the sights. According to the museum at the bullring, Ronda is the home of modern bullfighting, and it even has its own school, in contrast to the Seville school, which is apparently more showy than the Ronda one. Saw the bullfighting ring, crossed the Puente Nuevo several times, and spent some time in a park on the other side of the gorge reading and admiring the view of the bridge. It was spectacular. Can't wait to really get to look at the photos. But the best part was driving through the old town, and then crossing the bridge, with Trisha Yearwood's "I Would've Loved You Anyway" blasting out of the speakers: it was so surreal, I got lost, went through town again, and did again. Ahh...
Left in the afternoon for Granada, and got in around sunset. This was of course after taking the road for Málaga for half an hour and getting lost a few times. Took a nap 5km outside Granada, then came into town.
After driving in circles for an hour (never, ever, drive in Granada), I finally just parked the car and got out and walked. Found a hotel, settled in a bit, then went back and got the car, and parked it in the hotel's garage. Went out for a couple beers at a tapas bar not too far from the cathedral, and then went to bed.
Woke up Saturday, at 10, and was out of the hotel by 11. Re-parked the car on the southeast side of town, and walked up to Plaza Isabel la Católica, and saw the sights. Gorgeous cathedral, and little itty-bitty streets that they somehow managed to fit cars in. Then back in the car for more fun trying to avoid scratching the rental (that's the other thing--there's planty of pay parking, but even there the spots are so damn small!!!), and up to the Alhambra.
Now this is an amazing place! I spent three hours wandering the grounds. First saw the Casas Reales, home to the Moorish kings and filled with dramatic, ornate Islamic artwork, and plenty of pools and fountains to fill the palace with the sound of running water. Frankly, they were doing zen before it was popular.
Then saw the fortress itself, with dramatic views overlooking the city on one side and the Sierra Nevada (heehee--they're beautiful, but not as good as my Sierra Nevada) on the other. Finally, saw the palace of Charles V, which has a musem (closed, of course), and an amazingly old alfombra that they were studying to see how it was threaded.
Now I'm back on the other side of the river, looking at the Alhambra from beneath, and admiring its grandeur. Just had a Coke and a tapas, and ready to get back on the road and hit up Paul & Andy's. My my but this has been a whirlwind trip. 9:09pm
PS: Fiona, if you get this, sorry, but my service cut out suddenly and I didn't want to spend another €4 to make another call. But you'll read this and thus know everything I'd've said, so no big loss. See you in December! 9:10pm
Monday, November 17, 2003: Translating Demon!
I just spent 2.5 hours translating five meetings' minutes. Damn!Also spent a bunch of time today replanning the trip down south--I'm now going on Wednesday, and coming back on Sunday. It's gonna be a helluva week! 6:38pm
Friday, November 14, 2003: I'm So Excited I Could Just Pop
I'm breaking the law! Not really, but it's a great intro, no? Actually, Chris is going to be renting the car that I will be driving. Going to go down and see the Alhambra, then Ronda, then over to Paul and Andy's a couple days, then back up. It's all happening the last weekend I'm in Spain (this is because I'm going out with Javi and Yony this weekend, Paul & Andy weren't available the next, going out with the Corporate Finance class the next weekend, and flying home the weekend after the trip--I am so booked!). The only drawback is all the driving time (I love driving, but it may get a little excessive--I'm expecting plenty of rest stops), and the fact that I only get two days with Paul and Andy. But we'll do okay. Now, booking my flight for Madrid on the 14th, and that's the end of Spain.Just got an email from Mom--she just paid the first month's rent and deposit on a nice little house in Reno for Shar and me. It's south of downtown, with its own yard and a one car garage (we'll be duking it out for who gets to park in it). Read Mom's email:
Hi John,
Well, Shar and I had a wonderful time house hunting today. She is such a cute, sweet girl. I'm not quite sure on how you lucked out on having her for a roommate!!! We found a really cute duplex fairly close to her current place. It has a medium-size living room, two bedrooms, one bathroom, nice size kitchen, and a one-car garage. It has a cute little back yard, too. The landlady has Jose come and mow, trim and weed in the summer. Except for only having the one bath, I think it would work out great for you. It was built in the 50's, and has a real retro feel to it. All the window sills are heavy tile. The carpeting is a dusty rose mauve color. The walls are a light taupe. Nice wide wood trim painted in white. It comes with stove, refrigerator, and stacking washer/dryer in the kitchen. She said she would throw in a portable dishwasher if you guys wanted it. The rent is [decent] per month, and includes water. You pay all other utilities (gas, electric, trash, phone). It has a DSL hookup. No pets. No smoking inside the house. I told Shar about the couch, and she said she could sew a slip cover (Hildy style) for it if I gave her the fabric. All the windows have mini blinds, so you all wouldn't have to buy any curtains. The address is 505 Walker.
I will try calling you later.
Love you lots,
Mom
(Sidebar: why would she tell me they're "dusty rose mauve" and "light taupe"?? What the hell kind of colors are those??)
So, everything's falling into place. I love it when that happens. Now to get to work and keep it all in place. If only I had any ability to focus right now! 3:35pm
Wednesday, November 12, 2003: "O-o-oh Ye-e-a-ah!"
The paper and presentation turned out great. Klara thought I brought up a lot of good points, and if it weren't so obvious that I was trying to eek out ten pages (the margins and font really were quite big), it looked great. The prof agreed, saying my presentation was good, and that I brought up a lot of good points. So, cool
The big news, however, was last night. ;-) Met Jorge at nine, had some coffee, and yada yada yada I got home at 7:15 this morning. And I did yada yada over the best part. Mmm! He's got a full 20 cm! You know you're holding something---Mm! And he can kiss like no other (almost better than Jaintzi). Muy muy divertido, este tío. And he was truly attracted to me--said I was guapo. It was so sweet. If I thought I knew what love was, this might be approaching it. And for the interested, no suit and tie, but it's totally forgivable because he works in the theatre and loves Liz Taylor.
I know I'm not being too detailled, but you get the idea. I frankly didn't stop smiling. I am such a slut! In a good way! Really though, what do you expect from a 20yr-old?? 11:56am
Sunday, November 9, 2003: Bullshitting and Coupling
But I didn't let this paper hold me back too much from going out last night. Met up with Javi and David at Molli's, next to Yony's work, and waited for her until 12:45. Then went to a couple clubs at Galería Urquijo. David missed out on an opportunity to visit his amiga con derecho de roce, so he was a little horny and on the prowl. I mean, you should have seen what he was doing to Yony! But they said that next weekend they just want me to come down (this puzzles me somewhat. I mean, maybe they're still mad about last Saturday when Ryan and Chris had some miscommunications and the night got fucked over, but this still strikes me as odd) so we can go to a gay bar and pick up someone for me, then to a straight bar so David can pick someone up, and then go out as three couples (this may be the reason--they don't think Ryan will get anyone and they know Chris won't because he's true to Annie. It still rubs me the wrong way).
As for the drama on Thursday, with Yony breaking up with Javi and never wanting to see me again, all is well. She blamed it on her being depressed about not getting to see her little boy, Ander, and when she gets deprimida, she gets selfish and pushes everyone away. I still think it was unnecessary, but life goes on. She loved me last night, sort of. I did send her an "Estoy Aquí" text message, so she liked me.
I guess all's well with Yony and Javi, and the paper's almost finished, so almost everything's well with me. I'm going to BS this last page, then type up the summary, save it all on the net to print out tomorrow at the computer lab for free, and go home and read all my chapters for Corporate Finance. Then I'll have everything done and get to have my Sunday night La Plaza Bar beer in peace. 6:15pm
Thursday, November 6, 2003: Weekend!
The only downer is that Ryan and Chris have decided to up and go this weekend to London. I'm of course wishing them all the best and expecting them to bring back Dr. Pepper. But that leaves me alone on Saturday for the weekly clubbing night. So let me explain why this is really a problem.
Last night, Javi calls just as I'm getting home (I stayed late at school to work on my paper and got halfway through it!). This was around 7:30. He just calls out of the blue and asks me if we all would like to go see "The Matrix: Revolutions". I, not having any homework at the time, say yes, I'd love to. But neither Chris nor Ryan had the time I had, so I ended up going alone.
I met Javi at the Abando metro stop, and he had stories. Apparently, he'd just been to see Yony at work, and she told him that if he went out with me instead of going home to wait for her, she'd break up with him. Pretty heavy, but not really unexpected. Javi was nonetheless quite unhappy, but most of that was being spent on being angry with her for being overly demanding. And she is, I have to say. It is unreasonable for her to expect him to just spend his whole life waiting for her, which is what he's currently doing. So he took me to his house and cooked me dinner (fish, chocolate, yogurt, and a tortilla española sandwich, with chocolate rice krispies in hot milk for dessert), and then we went and saw the 10:30 showing. The movie itself was nice, tied up all the loose ends, but left me somewhat unsatisfied. But when I left Javi just after that (he really really wanted me to spend the night over), I was just sort of worried. Mostly because he has to sleep the night in the same bed as her. So I spent the whole night doing the friend thing and listening and waiting for him to relax some (which he never did). I asked him out for a beer tonight in Algorta, but Faud texted me last night and I think we're going to get together, if he'd ever text me back with a confirmation. Sheesh. This shouldn't be this hard.
So, hopefully Javi and Yony were able to patch things up enough to get a good night's rest. I really do like Yony (she lavishes the love on me), but Javi's suffering, and that's not good. He called himself a "slave" to her two weekends ago. He's not happy, I doubt she is, and I don't see this relationship going too much farther. It's amazing they got two years under their belt. C'est le drame de la vie. 3:55pm Good luck, Javi.
Tuesday, November 4, 2003: ¡Torrevieja!
First off was Paul himself. Pretty much as he was online, but with an authentic Scottish accent that never really carried well over the net. We talked about this, we talked about that, we had a great time. It was so cool to finally meet him.
Then there was Andy. Great guy. Somewhat intimidating. But very down to earth. Right. And despite the age difference that is worse than that between my sister and her guy, they seem to get along just great. In addition to having numerous stories to tell, Andy also happens to be quite a chef, and cooked delicious ribs for us (the kind that falls off the bone and just begs to be eaten--yum!)
But the best part of the weekend was getting to sit down and admire Paul's collections of suits, uniforms, and books. They were literally everywhere. All quite fine, most of a tweed cut, and some beautiful uniforms that were made before polyesther ruined fashion. There were some especially fine expamples of suits from the '30s and '40s, which were a heyday for suits, and even some bowler hats to top it all off. Both of the downstairs bedrooms' closets were jampacked with them, and that didn't include all the suits that were in the upstairs master bedroom, which we somehow never got into. Hm.
Perhaps the best part of the weekend was going through all that, and somehow ending up with a pocket watch from 1913 and a pair of silver cufflinks that made it home with me. Not only is the man well-dressed, he and Andy are incredibly generous as well.
And last but not least are the dogs, two beautiful little mutts who fell in love with me almost immediately and laid on the couch with their heads on my lap. *sniffle* God I miss my dogs but they made it so much better.
So Paul, I want to extend my deepest thanks not only for the weekend but also the friendship. Things would have been a lot slower in happening had it not been for you. Okay, gushy moment over. Thanks Paul and Andy, and hopefully it won't be too long before we see each other again. You do know you HAVE to come to Reno when you're visiting Roy next year. All right, ciao!
PS: I got a date! More on Thursday 3:33pm
