25 August 2003
Well the first day of escuela is finally over. We met up around 8am to test our level of spanish. Just to let you know, the first 3 questions cover Span 1101. I could make it to the 6th question with a little luck, but after that, I gave up. No sense in guessing. I tried to leave the table quietly, but it seemed like every move I mad had a sound effect added to it. When I turned in my test the lady smiled at me and told me I got all 6 right. Woohooo! I´m still put in with the beginners anyway... no surprises there! After the tests we took a tour of the main area and came back to divy into groups. I got lucky and got morning classes, 9-1pm. I don´t think i would´ve liked afternoon classes, 3-7pm. Its nice to get it over with and then have the rest of the day to yourself to do whatever.

Class was ok. Absoulutely no INGLES! i think I can fortell a headache coming on! Even explanations are en español. Great. I´m just waiting for the moment I hit that wall face first and come crying back to my room to call someone who doesn´t quite get it, but listens to me anyway.

I got dupped by this sweet lil ol lady in the old arab quater. She handed me some rosemary and grabbed my hand and started reading my palm. Naturally she wanted something for it! She was pretty accurate thought. She knew I had 2 parents, a brother, a sister, a half sister, who I may add she said is now gone, but still in my house in another form....hmmmm, kristina. freaky. then I got the whole dead in this life speech that I usually get and she told me that after i died I will live a long life and get married and have 2 kids. Then she told me to watch out for ppl I call friends. She told me some are angry and will try to hurt me....I´ve been in spain for 5 days and no word from them. She also told me I had a strong spirit and not to worry because i will have a very good life. hmmm...

24 August 2003
Well I leave for Granada today. I got to the bus station 30 mins early to make sure I wouldn´t miss the bus. When I got there I went to check the departures board and there was no gate listed for my route. I go to the Continental Auto desk and ask the guy there and in case he can´t understand my spanish, i pull out my ticket too. He tells me platform 10 like i thought and gave me directions. It was the same one I went to the other day. So I head down there and there is no bus. There were others around with the same looking ticket so I just sat on my case and waited. Soon people began disappearing one by one. I look at the clock and it´s 9:25 and no bus. Maybe those people knew something I didnt. I strike out and look for my bus. I found it 12 platforms down and the guy starts telling me what time it is. I guess I´m really late even though its like 9:27. I show him my ticket and started laughing. He even loaded my case for me. I guess he understood.

So we´re at a rest stop and I decide to call FTB because my teller card hasn´t been working all day. I figure they think its stolen even though I made sure to tell them that I would be in Spain. They always screw things up so I´m kinda worried. That´s how I get all my money and that´s the last thing I need. Good news though! Apparently it´s just their system was down and it should be back up soon.

Now we´re back on board and 30 mins into it my nose starts bleeding. It was as if some little people up there opened up the flood gates! Luckily I caught it before anything got on my white shirt and everywhere else. It did get on my journal though. It´s pretty gross.

Well I made it to the residence ok. My room is pretty sparse. closet,desk,bed,sink,window, that´s pretty much it. Not bad considering. The baño is down the hall and around 3 (3!) corners. It´s like a maze. All in all the place is pretty decent, no real complaints. I went walking around and got lost a few times, but my navigation skills are always on par. I only get lost if I want to. I think I walked around for a good 3.5 hours today. Partly because I was looking for the school and partly because I couldn´t believe how DEAD the streets were. It was like a ghost town. The cars and motorbikes that I did see were driving like every street was the autobahn. I know, it´s only Sunday, but I hope it gets better. I haven´t really seen anyone around the residence either. I know there are at least some people here cause I see the names on the doors. A lot of them are long-timers, 3-6 months. hmmm...don´t know if I could do that. I like having my own baño.

I had some time to kill so I followed Lofton´s advice and started working on the LSAT. My diagnostic was a 152. I hope it goes up. I can´t have that.

Can you believe I lost my freakin navel ring! I have no idea where it could be. Looks like this safety pin is gonna have to do. I just hope it doesn´t get infected.

Well that´s all for now. I have to get up early tomorrow. It´s a school day.

23 August 2003
I ended up oversleeping today. Luckily Lofton gave me a call and woke me up. Otherwise I would have slept clear past noon. I thought I´d start my day with the Madrid Vision Tour (mainly because my feet hurt and my legs ache). It comes in 3 routes. I took the first one at the Prado. I ended up sitting in front of this family, who I can safely assume were Americans. The parents spoke with these really annoying jersey accents and all the kids were whining "but daaaad you said we´d only get out and walk once, but daaad....blah blah blah" and to top it off, they claimed we had 52 STATES! The dad musta seen the crazy look on my face because he quickly told those kids to shut up. Apparently they seem to be on some whirlwind 7day 7city tour of Spain. God, I feel sorry for them, no wait, I feel sorry for Spain.

I tried to go to El Rastro today too. 1) I either couldn´t find it, or 2) all it was, was people hocking all their old, used stuff. Without any luck I ventured back to Sol. There were a few stores that I spotted on the tour and a few that I was still looking for. I lucked up in one store, which was about the size of my closet and found this really cute top for only 3€!

After Sol, I hopped on rt 3 then 2. It was a hot day and I got a late start. At least this way I could do the touristy thing and take in the sites while eating an "early" dinner and catchin the breeze. Some Brits on the bus suggested that I take the tour at night too because it was so much prettier. I didn´t have anything else to do so I followed their advice. They couldn´t be more right. The fountains and the buildings were so much prettier all lit up.

22 August 2003
Everything around here is so close together! I left TRYP today. Thank God! I´d be broke if i stayed there! Villar is ok. Its REALLY no frills, but the baño down the hall is immaculate! I made sure to check that out. I really love my little terrace and being able ot look down on the street below. It´s got a real nescafe/folgers feel to it.

I went to the Prado today. It was a short little walk down the calle. My favorite piece had to be La Lavadoria,(?) The Bath. It´s a painting where Christ is bathing the feet of his diciples. It has an amazing sense of depth. It follow you where ever you go. It´s almost like looking through a window. There was this nice guy running around explaining pieced to people for free. He musta been high of life or something cause others were charging 44E for the same thing and people were paying it! I just got my happy butt an audioguide and went to town. I saw him later in the cafeteria and he laughed at the bandages on my feet. I guess I walked around a little TOO much last night. You really can´t help that though. You never really notice it. Even in the heat.

I caught the metro afterward to the estacion sur de autobuses so I could buy my ticket to Granada. Can we say MADHOUSE! I made sure to check out where mi plaza was. Better to know now as opposed to later. I even found the correo and bought a phone card. I promise, I thought I was in the wrong place! The main correo looks like a church and it was EMPTY! So naturally, that´s what I thought I was walking into. I was thinking, "hmm... that´s odd to have a post office in a church." I guess I´m just used to post offices being ugly and hella crowded.

I got my ticket and a phonecard. Time to call for my pickup. AHHH! I waited too long! Got kinda sidetracked in Sol...those bootleg Louis´can be tempting...oh well. looks like I´ll be taking a taxi instead. No worries, I could actually walk, but I think I learned my lesson hikin up Atocha with that damn case.

It would start raining when I actually plan to do something! I wanted to go back to Sol to check out some more stores and vendors. I finally figured out how to get to Benneton, Miss Sixty and the other Zara´s. Ah well, back to the room it is. I´m too scared to buy anything anyway. Don´t want to end up buying another suitcase AGAIN. Looks like tv en español tonight.

It´s 12:45am and it stopped raining! The calle beneath me is PACKED! Worse than Beale in May. There´s a club not too far down and I can hear the beats of some old school Michael Jackson. Guess I´ll go check it out!

Mykonos was ok. Like anywhere, it´s a buncha rhythmless fools on the dance floor. Probably one too may cervesas. I went walking around when I left there to find something else to get into. Not too much. So I sat down outside at a cafe in the plaza down the calle and sipped on a kaz. Then this dude starts waving at me like he knows me. I pretend to be really into the scene around him and to not know who he is...CAUSE I DON´T. Apparently he doesn´t get the picture and brings his happy little self over to my table and starts spittin that spanish game. I play like I don´t know what the hell he´s saying (even though I can make it out). Just my luck, he can speak english fluently, and with a brit accent might I add. Up close he kinda resembled Vin Diesel, but not really. Maybe it was just the shaved head. Luckily the waiter came over with my bill and he took care of it. I know it´s not nice, but I took this opportunity to make an exit. I thanked him for payin for my drink and got on down. I decided to walk around for a bit before going home. It was afterall, only 4am and it´s still Beale in May. On the way back form Sol, I hear an "Hola guapa!" and being the nosy person that I am, I turn and look. Guess who it is! My dear friend Vin. GREAAT. I throw out a wave and dip into the farmacia until he disappears. I swear I was all mission impossible on the way back to my room! So now I´m back in the safety of my confines and it´s nearly 5am. The street´s still Beale in May...amazing. I decide to take it in and pull out a chair onto mi terraza. It´s a cool night and now they´re playin some old school Prince down there. I don´t even know how to explain it. It was all so very mellow-chill. Then I hear it again, "guapa". I couldn´t figure out where it was coming from. I figure it´s just people on the street and ignore it. Then I look across and to my left. Guess who. There he is all teeth and waving madly. Wonderful, now I´ve got a stalker in Madrid.

On the flip side though, he WAS impeccably dressed and drove PRETTY silver Land Rover (i know, in europe!). Maybe I could pass him on to Taki or Tasha. He´s a monied up European. Something they both love. hmmm...

The flight went well and the guys at Aerocity were really helpful. We got a mini-tour as he brought us around. I kept thinking though "Am I really in Madrid? Is this really Spain?" because all I kept seeing was Los Angeles. Mayve it was the crap in the street or the damn graffiti, or it could have even been the riced out cars blaring spanish rap as they profiled down the calle. I don´t know. What I do know is so far, I´m not too impressed. We pull up to my stop and I hop out and I spot my place. When I rang the bell a little old lady comes to the door and all I can make out is "No tengo dormitorio." Uh-huh. Yeah. she then proceeds to point down the street and closes the door. GREAAT! Maybe I shoulda sat my ass in that chair a little longer...but then I would be still in Memphis. Anyway, I make the hike UP HILL with my huge case in tow in search of another place. I go to the first open available looking place, TRYP. Yeah, I know it. I´m a sucker. I could´ve kept walking and lugging up hill to Gran Via (which takes 15 mins to walk alone) but I´m irritated and damn it I just don´t freakin feel like it! I´m just waitin for my room to get ready so I can regroup. Believe me, I am a little irked, but I won´t let that bother me. But then again, like people say, bad things come in 3´s. I wonder what´s next...

Found another place to stay! Villar yeah i know, (I´m asking for more hikes uphill attatched to 55lbs)but I talked to someone who could understand my broken spanish and spoke english quite well. Besides, 22E a night is a HELLUVA lot better than this.

Why is it that whenever I leave the country, somebody´s always offering me a job? Why can´t that happen at home? So I´m walkin down Gran Via and this man whalks up to me speaking in spanish. Apparently he owns a motorbike company and is getting ready to produce some new brochures and he would like for me to be in them (sounds like a pickup to me). He made sure to let me know that he WAS NOT trying to pick me up (right) and gave me his company´s website and the numbers to his offices and cell. hmmm... Then he offered up a spot with the company, provided I could pass the interview board. He said that they would pay for intensive spanish classes as long as I agreed to stay with the company for two years. hmmm...

I am slowly beginning to hate Spain. Not for the reasons you would think, but for the fact that I have no one to share this experience with. Here I am in Plaza Mayor sitting in this outside cafe sipping on a coca enjoying the cool breeze and the street musicians´ rendition of "dust in the wind", then I see a group of girls laughing and taking pictures of one another, and it dawns on me. I really am all alone. It´s not one of those tragic epiphanies. It´s more like bitter sweet. I remember planning a trip, probably much like the one those girls are on and everyone bailed. A lot like how they bailed on me for salsa night, which was my last sat night at home. Come to think of it I never got any calls to wish me bon voyage or any emails to see if i even made it ok. Thanks guys. But then again, I think I am slowly beginning to love Spain too. I´m not quite sure why, but when I find out I´ll let you know.

20 August 2003
I´m always amazed at how small Memphis International Airport is. Could you imagine having to stay there for a layover? I think not. My plane was sceduled to leave at 2:20, so Lofton and I sat at the checkpoint up until the last possible minute. It was actually pretty cool being treated like a potential criminal/terrorist. I suggest everyone try it at least once. The pat down, the shoe check, bag screening, the interview, the whole 9 yards. I got the "special VIP" treatment. They were even waiting for me at the gate. Lucky me!

I love international airports! Real ones anyway. The duty free shopping, clean bathrooms, and the ACCENTS! Gotta love it! "Mummy, did you rememba to pac me bag? I bet we have loads of post when we get home." hehehe...so cute! Tasha would love it. It´s a buffet of crooked teeth, pasty skin, and British accents. Oh yeah the occasional hottie is running around too.

OK, some idiot at Villar let my room go! I remember getting the email (which I QUICKLY responded to) of which rooms were available and I emailed back with a yes, i want that room. They then told me to fill out ANOTHER reservation form on their site, which I did immediately. I even called up there to make sure I got the room! The guy told me yes and that I would be getting a confirmation email. I got an email from them after I left. Something was telling me to have lofton check it. Low and behold! I DON'T have a room! So I´m at the airport 30 mins before boarding scrambling to get a list of places together so I can make some calls. Mind you it´s 7pm in EWR which means it´s like 1am in Madrid. I ended up finding a place and the lady offered me a dbl room for 31E. It was all she had so I took it. What bothers me though, is that she doesn´t seem too sure of herself....
....Pray Lisa. Pray.

bored...
I guess I should really call this random thoughts of a girl who has nothing better to do with her time...



...6 days