Because 12 Grimmauld Place is calling me...

Minor change in plans haha. I'll be going back to BC next semester. There were no major events really that affected this decision, mainly just that I feel oddly stagnant as far as academic progress goes. It's kind of hard not to love living in a city that is sunny virtually everyday, but I really should be taking advantage of BC. I think I miss the stress in some twisted way. The unproductivity is getting to me. I can putz around after college, in the summers, whenever. Additionally, I'm tired of our one printer at API being broken and the university library being closed due to student protests...being a fake student in general (paper ID cards, really?) Most important, 12 Gerald (Grimmauld) is calling my name, and you just don't mess with the Order of the Phoenix. 

Other events: 

I just finished my group presentation on Medicine in the Renaissance. My section was on the philosophers (yeah yeah you can laugh)...I'm just hoping I didn't sound like a total imbecile, or imbeSULLin (Brian Regan anyone? No? Okay, moving on.) 

Tomorrow Joanna "Vlada" Pasheluk and myself will be presenting our Semantics project...so hopefully no one in my class reads this tonight otherwise the surprise will be spoiled (Does anyone even read this?). 

I missed my art history class this morning to finish our power point presentation. Apparently the professor read our midterm exams aloud, and I received an 8/10. I'll take it. This was our exam, which was written on the board last week:

1. Retablo

2. Cupula

3. Montañés 

As you can see, the expectations were clear. 

Thursday I am going to Italy to meet the Arndt gals! I'm flying into Pisa, maybe stopping to see the leaning tower (before it falls over, right dad?), bus-ing to Florence, where we will be for two days, followed by two days in Rome. 

Done rambling,

Maddy

Soup du jour, hot hors d'oeuvres!

Just returned from a group trip to Paris, the City of Lights. Besides minor hotel problems (murky cesspool of yellow water and proliferating bacteria in the bathroom of our first room), I found Paris to be absolutely delightful. The night we arrived was quite clear, which is a rare occasion for this city, as the subsequent days of gray nebulosity proved. The clouds still were not enough to take the beauty away from the city. Never have I seen anything so ornate. In Paris, each bridge, each lamp post, comes down to the finest detail. 

The Eiffel Tower was a convenient 10-minute stroll from our hotel, so we took advantage of the clear first night to see it up close. It stands at the end of an expansive park, reaching toward the sky. Its blue ilumination made it a remarkable sight. On the front side is a ring of glowing stars, representing the European Union's current presence in paris. Additionally, for five minutes on the hour, the tower twinkles in brilliant crystal lights (warning to the epileptic). 

Eiffel by day: me, Marisa, Joanna

Eiffel by night

The following morning involved a three-hour bus ride slash tour through the city. It was about as exciting as a bus ride can be, but we did get to stop at the Musee d'Homme for an uniterrupted view of the Eiffel! A visit to Notre Dame and Saint-Chappelle followed. We toured the Conciergerie, the old prison where the anti-Revolutionary folk were kept before losing their heads (pun intended). Unfortunately I had to take a break from everything since I wasn't feeling well. So while I was lying incapacitated in the hotel for 3 hours, Joanna, Marisa, and Jessie went to see the catacombs. 

Saint-Chappelle

The next day began with an utmost inefficient visit to the Louvre. After waiting around for about an hour and a half, we entered the museum and probably saw about 2% of it on our tour. But hey, I saw the Mona Lisa. If nothing else, the arquitecture was immensely impressive. We hopped on down to the metro to peruse Les Puces de St-Ouen, Paris most famous flea market. The little white tents went on forever, chock full of antiques and little knick knacks. We wandered our way over to a little ma-n-pa cafe for lunch, where the four of us ate Croque Monsieur (note: the decision to eat ham was purely for cultural enrichment haha). We took the Metro to Montmartre, the gigantic and seemingly only hill in Paris. A short hike brought us to the most spectacular view of the city and the impressive Basilique de Sacre-Coeur. Jessie and I spent the remainder of the evening wandering around Marais, a neighborhood with a plethora of cafes and very cool vintage stores. We ate dinner at a small sandwich shop and chatted briefly with the two workers. One asked if we were American, and when we said yes, he mumbled something that apparently was "Obama," when the other worker corrected his pronunciation. He gave us a big grin and thumbs up and said "Obama, good!" and the other (smilingly as well) did a thumbs down as said, "Bush, bad." We encountered nothing but friendliness in Paris, and I think the recent election (or maybe a little luck) had a lot to do with that. So thank you, Barack!

Sunday we spent the day at Louis XIV palace in Versailles. The palace was majestic. One hallway included room after room of brilliant jewel-toned colors of gold, red, green, purple. My only grievance is that the palace is currently home to a Jeff Koons exhibit, with awkwardly-placed contemporary art pieces (i.e. a giant, metallic-magenta balloon dog). We wandered around the expansive gardens, but I think the cool weather and general brown-ish tone of the landscape made us appreciate it less. I would love to see it in the spring time when everything is full-bloom. 

Well, that ends my trip to Paris. I think it's time for you to put a smile on:

eHarmony

The lovely apartment I enquired about no longer is available, bummer! However, I have come across many more promising options thanks to a lovely little website called easypiso.com, where you create a profile and construct yourself in such a way that you seem as least sketchy as one possibly can in an online ad. I'd imagine this is what online dating is about (Hi, I'm a student looking for an apartment next semester. I'm clean, responsible...I like to laugh for no reason, dance in the rain, enjoy walks on the beach and roasting marshmallows by twilight, you get the picture?)

I have officially finished mid-term week, which was probably less stressful than my least-demanding week at BC, gotta love abroad programs! One test was in Contemporary Spanish Cinema. We had to write an in-class essay involving the image of the two sides in the Spanish Civil War. We watched Belle Epoque, La Nina de Tus Ojos, and La Lengua de las Mariposas, the latter being one of my all-time favorite Spanish movies, probably tied with Pan's Labyrinth. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for amazing foreign films! The title in English is "The Tongue of the Butterflies." The essay went well. I wrote for the entire two hours. I just kind of took the question and ran with it because I loved the movies so much and got really excited. So I hope that I formed a coherent idea somewhere and didn't just write a bunch of nonsensical rubbish.

Inspirational Nonfiction
Yesterday I triumphed over the forces of the Spanish grocery business when I successfully found APPLE JUICE BOXES, thus ending the 8-week drought. It only took three different stores. Never give up.

Cultural Tidbits and a Vocab Test...

...and you thought those ended in high school! 

-Spaniards (being named after saints and all), have this interesting little tradition where they celebrate the day of their namesake saint. Today happens to be el Dia de San Carlos, so kind of like the pseudo-birthday of my host-brohans! Apparently real birthdays are the bigger deal, but it does get some acknowledgement. 

-Health. I'm not really sure if the government has labeled medical research as contraband or what, but the Spaniards seem to be about 50 years behind in regards to health issues. I'll give them credit for the olive oil, but I'm pretty sure it's only used because it's so cheap here. 

1. Love of pig. By that I mean dead, roasted pig, it's everywhere. 

2. Weather paranoia. These people are so scared of rain it's not even funny. HOMBRE, YOU ARE NOT THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST. Everyday the meteorologists predict rain. I can count the days it has rained on one hand. They also believe cold weather directly makes you catch a cold. My host mom warned me of wearing a jacket when it was still 70 degrees. 

3. People smoking around their little infants. Seriously.

4. People smoking. 

Vocabulary and How to Sound Spanish:

Vale! = Okay. Say it quickly and repeatedly. Valevalevalevalevale. 

Hombre! = Man. But women also use it while speaking to each other, usually in a heated argument or while strongly making a point (i.e. when my *fake art history professor yelled at us for asking when our midterm was again...HOMBRE you are always asking me this blah blah blah I don't care about you guys anyway.)

Oye! = Listen! Carmen always yells a variety of phrases at Tana while we are eating and she wants to play, this is one. 

No pasa nada. = Nothing happens. It's used kind of like "Don't worry." Students: Should we study for our exam? Professor: No! No pasa nada. 

*My art history professor is not real. I think he's half robot. He is cold and does not make eye contact with us the entire class. He didn't show up the first day. He has been at least 15 minutes late each class since. Last week he came on time and scolded everyone who walked in late, saying we should be more courteous and punctual. His form of teaching is writing biographical information on the chalkboard, re-reading what he wrote, erasing it and doing it again...and this takes two hours (There's about a 30-minute break between the two chalkboard writings). Thank you, sir, but Wikipedia could have told me everything in a far more efficient manner. 

Also, since this is my blog, I will complain as much as I want. So click that tiny little X in the corner of the screen if you don't want to hear it. Boston College is a headache. Metaphorically, that's the best I can do. I tried to get course approvals for art, history, and sociology cores. My Andalusian Art class doesn't count, because "the aim of the Core is to introduce the student to the fundamentals of the discipline through a relatively broad topic in the field." I'm not too mad about it, because it counts toward my Spanish major, I was just excited about killing two birds with one stone. Besides I would gladly take another art class next semester in hopes of a more enlightening experience. For history, I was simply directed to e-mail a different person. Apparently sociology doesn't approve any courses whatsoever while abroad, and I am in the works of writing a sassy e-mail back to Mr. Michael Malec. I think I am developing a whole new sociological perspective just by living in another culture, more than I will ever learn sitting in a class at BC for 2.5 hours a week, being taught by a mediocre professor who got stuck teaching a core class. 

But enough of that. In honor of election day... MIRA 

(And if you are in the mood for some G.W./Kerry nostalgia... Classic.)

Priceless.

I look like an awkward Harry Potter. 

Juiced Up

Not on 'roids, don't fret. I went on a 3 hour walk through town, passed the apartment again (creep much? yes), searching far and wide for an open supermarket. No stores are open on Sunday, not even Zara, or el Corte Ingles. So when I passed el Corte Ingles' dark supermarket, things were looking pretty grim. I meandered toward the Cathedral, stopping to listen to some impromtu Flamenco and dodging palm-reading gypsies left and right, when I saw people with grocery bags! Open Cor happens to be open from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. everyday, how blasphemous and un-Spanish yet awesomely convenient! I purchased some juiceboxes (peach-grape, el Corte Ingles brand, ironically enough). I downed three in-a-row, and now my Vitamin C levels are sky-high...I REFUSE TO GET SICK. 

Happy Belated November!

I thought I would study today, why not. I'm forming a close bond with my semantics notes. I love this class. We learn all sorts of "modismos," or idioms, many of which have come in quite handy. Others I just think to myself in situations for fear of sounding like a total clown. My favorite is probably, "Vete a freir esparragos!", meaning "Leave me alone!" "Scram!" etc.

Today was a historical morning, as Carlos and I ate breakfast together for the first time. He eats three pieces of plain toast. We watched Ninja Turtles (side note: Carlos is 31). Last night, Carmen told me he is moving to his own apartment, so next semester she wouldn't mind hosting three students. Awk..I thought we were going to have the housing talk where I tell her I'm living in an apartment for sure. I was not in the mood for that since yesterday my Spanish skills seemed to be down. I've had a headache the past couple of days, and I think I'm getting sick.

On a lighter note, I think I found my dream apartment! I'm waiting for the landlady to reply to my e-mail so I can see if it's even available for the months I need it. The location is perfect. It's right on this enormous plaza called Alameda de Hercules, in the north-central region of town. It's probably about a 30 minute walk to school, but since I'll be in charge of meals I can work out my schedule so I only make the trek once a day. Besides, the walk is very pleasant and goes along a long road through the heart of the city. Alameda is a cute little neighborhood, a little more gritty than Triana because it's where all the student live. The plaza is lined with bars and cafes, and there's even a theater and stage in the center. It's also closer to el Parque de Alamillo, the biggest park in Sevilla, which is perfect for running. Here's a couple pics:

Alameda

Apartment