Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in AndyHark's LiveJournal:

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Friday, July 22nd, 2005
2:12 pm	LOOKING BACK It has been just about a week since I returned home. I'm glad to be back, and I can't wait to get all of my pictures developed and look back on this website to remember what I did. I will post my pictures online eventually when I get a chance. (Comment on this)
Friday, July 15th, 2005
1:56 pm	Sleepover in the Airport We are now leaving the Madrid airport for Paris. I know that I have made 47 great friends, 43 students, and 4 TAs. All of the TAs are staying behind to visit family & friends in Spain, but they wanted to accompany all of us to the airport. As we left, they all started crying while we exchanged goodbyes. We are at the airport now and we're off to Paris and it looks like we're staying. P.S. I hate the French, and I'm still in Madrid. Everyone at the airport had to throw stuff out of their suitcase. The airlines were dicks because what we originally brought is now not allowed on this flight. If I fly to Atlanta or international, I'm allowed 30 kilos, but if I'm just flying to Paris, I'm only allowed 20 kilos. Luckily they just let another person on with 30 kilos travelling only to Paris, so I made sure they didn't charge me for being over 20 kilos. My friend Krunal is Indian and he's from Manchester, England and trying to fly back their from Paris. He had quite a bit of trouble walking through security. I guess now is not the time to have dark skin and flying to England. We are going HOME!!! I have mixed emotions right now. I'm happy that I'll be going home, but, I'm a little pissed that I will miss going to Paris and London. I also had to dish out some extra cash to get back home, but it wasn't worth the hassle of trying to make it for 9 days without a present reservation. We're going to sleep in the airport tonight. HOW FUN!!! Right now, I'm sitting at a table at McDonalds. It's 2:00 PM on the 15th. Our flight is tomorrow morning at 10:00. We arrive in Georgia around 1:50 PM (EST). Right now, I can't wait to hear the words, "Welcome to Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. I never thought I would be so happy to be in Georgia. THINGS I CAN'T WAIT FOR WHEN I GET BACK TO THE U.S. Ice Chick-fil-a Air conditioning My car Free water Free refills No internet cafes, free internet Mierda-free streets (mierda=crap) Speedy service English No vendors shoving stuff in front of your face Less bums & people singing for money No pigeons Real meat, not mystery chicken/beef burgers No Ham & Cheese Smoke-free state It's now 9:35 PM and Shirley and I are counting down the hours now, 12 to be exact, until our flight leaves. I had a sandwich as a late lunch, early dinner, and I just had another milk shake. We've wandered around the airport for a little bit. There's a freaky guy wandering around and we're going to do our best to pull an all-nighter; if not, at least one of us will have to stay awake for the entire night. The chairs are pretty uncomfortable and it's quite warm, so I don't think that I'll be able to go to sleep that easily. 10:25 PM. 2nd freaky man encounter: An African man was sitting next to us. He's the size of a football player. We sat next to him to get away from freaky guy #1. He asked us if we knew the time, so I told him. He then appeared normal & asked us what we were doing in Europe. Then the normal part ended. He started screaming America, FBI, CIA. The French think that FBI are international police and laughed randomly. This prompted a quick exit on our part. We went to a lady at the ticket counter and she recommended that if we wanted well-lit safe place to stay for the night, to go to terminal 2-F where the police are located. We went to this terminal and sat and talked with these 2 girls from California for the entire night. (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 14th, 2005
1:49 pm	Sevilla We are in Sevilla now, and today we went to La Plaza España, where one of the Star Wars movies was filmed. We drove by the University of Sevilla and then we went to the Cathedral where the tomb of Christopher Columbus rests. We climbed to the top and saw all of Sevilla. THURSDAY, JULY 14- We drove from Sevilla to Madrid. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 12th, 2005
1:27 pm	Granada- La Alhambra It is now 8:30 in the morning. I just found out last night, that I in fact am not going back to the U.S. until my scheduled flight on July 24th. This is good & bad. I'm happy that I'm staying, but I'm a little nervous because I have no idea where I'm staying for 9 days. We stayed at a 4 star hotel. The food was amazing. Afterwards we went to a Flamenco show. It was held in Tablao Flamenco in the barrio Albayzin, a gypsy neighborhood. La Alhambra- We visited La Alhambra today. We saw 3 buildings/parts to the place, the justice building, the political building, and the house (justial, politico, casa). It is one of the top 3 places in all of Spain to visit. Afterwards we were on our own for a little bit to eat. We found a pizzeria (my favorite). It was great food. Then, Beth and I went walking around. I told Beth to look out because a guy was trying to walk by us on the sidewalk. He said gracias, and then we started talking for about 10 minutes. He had a pajarito (baby bird) in his hand. He was helping nurse it back to a healthy life because he was injured. We talked about the U.S., gun control, and where he and his family were from. He told us that his wife speaks very good english because she's an interpreter. He also said that we were doing a great thing by coming over and studying in Spain. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 11th, 2005
1:19 am	HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD HAPPY 29TH ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD. 21 MORE TO THE GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!! (Comment on this)
1:18 am	QUE TRISTE!!! VAMOS A SALIR DE VALENCIA!!! Earlier today, friends and I walked around Valencia since it's the last day. We are all defiitely going to visit the place. We went out to Valor, and had Churros dipped in chocolate. We had to do something Spanish or Valencian the last day. Then me and a friend walked over to Plaza Ayuntamiento to take some pictures. It's a sad night right now. It's the last night in Valencia. QUE TRISTE!!! So, we have to stay sober tonight because we have a 9 hour bus ride tomorrow. I don't know about any of you, but I'm not prepared to have a 9 hour bus ride drunk or hungover. Anyways, tonight I had to say goodbye to all my friends that I've made. By friends I mean the pizza place around the corner & the ice cream cafe. Dinner sucked. What a surprise. All in all today, I had 2 things of yogurt and 2 waters for lunch & dinner. After dinner, I had to get some food in my system. All of my friends wanted to go get sushi. I wanted to get out of the dorm, so I went to hang along. I tried some tuna sushi, and SURPRISE!! I found out I liked something I always avoided trying in the past. Well, actually, once I tried a California roll, but i hated it and about threw up. I think I offended the sushi owners with the face I made when I tried the roll, but they closed down recently, so I got the last laugh. HAHAHA. I'm now laughing because I was just laughing. Anyways, enough for riding bikes. After the sushi place, I went to Ultima Parada to get some pizza. The guy, he's not just a guy, his name is Ariel, talked to me for a while and we said our good byes. He sold me pizza for a discount 1 euro instead of 1.50. WHAT A DEAL!!! Then I went back to the Colegio (dorm) and chilled for about 30 minutes. We went out to Cafe Helado. I decided that since I had an extra shirt from UGA that I was going to throw it out, I'd give it to Ariel at the pizza place. I also was hungry and wanted some more pizza before ice cream. He appreciated it, and I asked for pizza, and he gave me a FREE SLICE!!! QUE BUENO!!! He appreciated the shirt, and I told him, if he didn't want it, it would've been thrown away, so I'm glad I could give it to him. We went to Cafe Helados to get some ice cream. I got a picture with the other 2 guys I know there. We said our goodbyes, and I think I felt a little tear in my eye (just kidding), but seriously, I did. So that is all. Our bus leaves in less than 8 hours, but I'm trying to stay up for a while since I don't know how I can entertain myself for 9 hours on a bus. I mean, if it were 8, I have plenty to do on a bus, but that last hour, don't think I can handle it. Anyways, that is all from VALENCIA!!!! I repeat, pray that I get back to the U.S. for cheap!! OR START PASSING AROUND A COLLECTION PLATE FOR ME!! HAHAHA.... HASTA LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS. (Comment on this)
Friday, July 8th, 2005
3:06 pm	LAST UPDATE Hey everyone, RANDOM ENTRY B/C I FORGOT WHICH DAY IT OCCURRED (i believe wednesday)- We had presentations for our business class this past week. One of the groups did a presentation about Cruzcampo, a local Spainish produced beer. They brought in samples, so during their presentation, we all had a bottle of Cruzcampo during class at 11:00 in the morning. Can any of you imagine being in the PJ auditorium with Calhoun or in the Journalism building having a beer that early in the morning? I can't. FRIDAY, JULY 8- We had our finals. Our business teacher, Virginia, is on a diet, and we've tried to get her to come out with us on multiple occasions. She said she couldn't because she couldn't drink beer. She said her favorite drink was Whiskey, so before class we bought her a bottle of Jack Daniels. She was excited and very happy. She responded with "I wonder what I'm going to do tonight." After class, I gave her the rest of my Bono-metro ticket (for the metro/subway). She appreciated that too because she uses it all the time. I had no use for it, but it still had a few trips remaining. After classes, we went out and had a blast. We finished our finals Friday afternoon, and we wanted to make sure that we celebrated that. I found out that I made an 'A' in my Culture class. I'm pretty sure I made an 'A' in my Business class, but I'll find out about that soon. Friday night, when I returned home at 5:30 in the morning, I talked to my mom. SATURDAY, JULY 9- We went to the beach Saturday night because there was a fireworks show. I've never seen such a show because we were so close to them. After the show, we returned to the area around our dorm. I wanted to go by Ultima Parada (which means last stop). It sells pizza, and I don't know what I would've done without it. I have become friends with the guy who works there. He gave me a discount last night after I told him this was my last weekend. We talked for a while, and I told him that tonight would be my last night. I wished him good luck and I told him that I hoped his business would survive without me. (haha) I'm going to visit him one last time tonight after I get some icecream from my other favorite place (also, my other savior on the trip). People said that everyone in Valencia would know me when I left, and I think I've done a very good job accomplishing that. The end of this journey is coming to an end. Today is my last day in Valencia, and tomorrow morning, we have a 9 hour bus ride to Granada. After Granada, we leave for Sevilla, and eventually we return to Madrid. Hopefully I can get on the original flight that I had. If not, I'm sort of screwed, because the moment the attacks in London occurred, my friend cancelled all of our reservations because she assumed that we had a sure flight home. We are able to get on the flight if we pay $1400. So, right now, I really do not know when I'm returning to the U.S., nor do I know where I would stay or go if I can't return to the U.S. until the 24th. Isn't that fun? Anyways, excluding the above incident, this trip has been great. As I've said repeatedly, I've met amazing people along the way, spaniards and americans. I still have more Spanish I need to learn, however, I can tell and was told by many of the TAs and friends on the trip, that I've improved speaking and understanding, and that I'm one of the better speakers on the trip. Every penny I spent was worth it. If anyone who reads this is thinking about studying abroad, stop thinking and DO IT!! Whether or not you're majoring in the language, you can still learn so much about a country. You also learn a lot about yourself and what you can do. Since being on my own for 6 weeks, I've learned the following: - I learned that the beds here are more uncomfortable than the ones in the Creswell Hall (tough feat to beat). - I learned that I can eat rabbit, fish, and other forms of mysterious meat, as well as stuff that I haven't tried before. - I learned that topless beaches are not all that great, because anyone can go topless, including grandmas. - I learned that mullets and rattails are a FAD over here, but I still don't understand why. - I learned that I really appreciate the "clean up after your dog" law in the U.S. because here there are mierda (crap) filled streets. - I learned that the smoking law really is great, because here, you can hardly breath. - I learned that the entire world not liking Bush is not a myth, it's in fact very true. - I also learned that it would probably be impossible to be an orthodox jew over here, or atleast to keep kosher, because i've never seen so much pork in my life. The streets are made of pork. - Most importantly, I've learned a great amount of spanish and more about the culture of spain. I've learned other stuff too, but those are some of the highlighted thoughts that i have as i write this last journal. I don't think I'll have internet access in Granada & Sevilla, so I'll have to take notes and then fill out another entry or 2 whenever I get to a computer. Please pray that I get back to the U.S. without having to pay $1400, OR ELSE, START CHIPPING IN!!! HASTA LUEGO, (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 7th, 2005
8:00 pm	BUMMED OUT Well, today is not the greatest of days. At least 33 people are dead, which is definitely the worst problem of all. As a result, I'm having to cut my trip short. I am no longer going to London, and I might not even have the chance to see Paris. Shirley's mom & my mom both, understandably, want us to return as soon as possible. As a result, I'm waiting to hear back from the travel agent to hear when I will exactly be flying back to the U.S. I'm hoping that our original flight will be full, and then maybe I will be able to stay a day or two in Paris. Anyways, this is definitely scary, because I have family in London, and I have many friends that have family in and around London. Also, My friend Christy arrived earlier this morning, 30 minutes after the bombings occurred, but they did not know what was going on. She sent an email to Shirley, who told me that London is at Level 2 & Christy and the rest of the group can't leave campus at all. Also, she wrote that if England moves the security threat level to Level 3, then the program will have to end and they will be forced to return back to the United States. Pray for the victims, and for a safe return to the United States for everyone over here. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 5th, 2005
8:18 pm	WINDING DOWN SUNDAY, JULY 3- We visited a museum called "El museo de la cerámica en el Palacio Maqués de dos Aguas". It had some cool stuff. I was actually the only student that went, but it helped me learn more Spanish because I was able to talk and listen to a TA alone. We walked through La Plaza Redonda, which is fairly crowded on a normal basis, but Sundays, it´s like a zoo. You can barely walk through the plaza because there are so many people. There are also extra vendors trying to sell stuff, so you have to be very careful to walk. I saw El Reportatero (Anchorman) and I thought that was funny. MONDAY, JULY 4- It was the 4th of July, and for the first time in I don´t know how long, I was not at Hammond Hills :( We still had fun. As usual we had our mandatory dinners. We arrived at 9:00 because punctuality is obligatory for all of when we have mandatory dinners or mandatory activities. We arrived, and they told us to wait. We walked in (I was hoping we had a good old fashion McDonalds Big Mac sitting on my plate). After all, what says America more than McDonalds. As usual we had pork and french fries. The TAs decorated the place with balloons and an American flag. We were all baffled that they even sell an American flag in Valencia. I didn´t think that our flag would be that high in demand. When we walked in, they had The Star Spangled Banner playing on the CD player, so as people walked in, everyone started singing, and noone sat down until the end. I thought it went pretty well, and it was really fun. We also have more birthdays this week, so they get a very nice cake. So, we actually have some REAL food (or atleast I hope so). I had a budweiser because as I said, I needed to eat or drink something American, and then we all went out to celebrate the 4th of July, except in Spain. Also, we really didn´t make it out until the 5th of July, but we kept telling ourselves that it was still the 4th in Atlanta. I still can´t believe this is our last week of school. I have a few assignments to do, and we have exams at the end of the week. These past few weeks have flown by like no other. We end classes this Friday, and on Monday, we leave for Granada & Sevilla. We are in each town for a day or two, and then we head to Madrid on the 14th. On the 15th the group departs, and that is when Shirley and I will begin our voyage to London and Paris. Without a doubt, this is an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. I never thought that I could pick up so many little things from the language just by living here for 6 weeks. I have been able to improve my speaking and comprehension. Most importantly, I´ve been able to immerse myself in a different culture. I have met and gotten to know some amazing people over here. I have talked to some of the Spaniards, and many of them are going to try or already are planning on coming to the United States this year. Anyways, I got to get back to work (the little that we have). Hear me laughing at all of you who are in summer school in Athens actually doing a bunch of work, while we´re here soaking up the culture and doing a little work on the side. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 4th, 2005
2:30 pm	INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!! Happy 4th all! So, yeah, it´s a blast trying to celebrate the 4th in a foreign country. I think I´ll go to McDonalds to celebrate & drink a Budweiser. I got to do something American. Later we´re throwing a 4th of July fiesta. We´re trying to find fireworks to buy & set off. Happy 4th. Celebrate for me too since I can´t!! (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 29th, 2005
4:31 am	Monday, June 27-Saturday, July 2 MONDAY, JUNE 27- After class a group of us got people together and we went to El Rio to play a game of soccer. TUESDAY, JUNE 28- A few people went to El Museo de Bellas Artes. The museum was very interesting. There is an enormous amount of religious paintings since this is such a Catholic country. It´s very interesting to see the different interpretations in each painting. Our mandatory dinner was moved from Monday to Tuesday this week. They went back to the original rotation of food for the dinners. We had fish, except the head was still attached to the fish. How do you like to look into the eyes of you next meal? It´s not that fun. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29- We went to the beach after class. The beach was real dirty today, so it wasn´t that fun. There was a lot of sea weed and trash in the ocean and in the sand. I left early so I could go to the train station to greet and accompany Rachel to her hostel. Her room was on the 3rd floor and had to have been well over 100 degrees in her room. She had a ceiling fan as well as another fan, but they really didn´t do anything. There were also no windows. We dropped her stuff off, and we walked over to my place. She rested for a little bit. I ate dinner, and then I took her on a walking tour around my dorm to see a few of the plazas in order to help her find her way around the next day. When we were walking near La Plaza Reina, this kid walked by and said, “Georgia!!” I was thinking to myself, who is this kid? I met him at the beach during La Noche de San Juan, and he recognized me. I was still pretty confused at the end, but I told him I was going to try to email his friend so we could meet up. We stopped off at the liquor store. We drank a little and then went to get some ice cream and we sat outside. I walked her back to her hostel, and sat with her for a little bit. We talked in the inferno that was called her room for a little bit. I gave her the key to my place and told her that if she couldn´t sleep to just walk over to the dorm and to come into my place in the morning. THURSDAY, JUNE 30- Rachel came to my room around 8:00 AM, and I slept for a little bit after that. I woke up around 8:30 to go to class. When I got back from class, a group of us went to the pool. It is called La Piscina Hípica. The pool was nice, but very crowded. I was trying to enjoy it, but these little fat kids kept getting me and my towel wet when they were trying to jump over each other near the pool. After a while, Diego (head TA), Ben & I started to have our own little biggest splash competition. It was pretty fun. I got back right around the time that siesta was ending, so Rachel & I went to La Plaza Redonda to look & shop around. I pretty much finished up the gift list, so anything from here on out is for MEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! Thursday night was Antonio´s birthday, so we all had ice cream and a few drinks and then went out. As Rachel & I were walking, we both just thought that it would be a big pain trying to get a taxi along with the rest of the group, all 40+ of us, so Rachel and I just walked around for a little bit more and got some ice cream. The workers and I are becoming really good friends. FRIDAY, JULY 1- SATURDAY, JULY 2 (5:00 am)- After class, Danny (TA) had an activity to go to the Picasso y los libros en el Centro Cultural de Bancaja. On the way there, we were walking through La Plaza de Virgen, and it hit me that I should probably take a few pictures of me and Rachel in Spain while we were together. We went to the place. It was kind of boring, but still a little interesting. Afterward, Rachel & I went to Corte Ingles (it´s their everything store here, food, clothes, EVERYTHING!!) I´ll go back there soon to get an official Valencia football jersey. They´re originally 65.00 Euros, but during the month of July there are massive REBAJAS (SALES), so it was cut in half to 32.00 euros. Friday night, the dinner sucked. I had french fries, bread & yogurt. It´s becoming the norm over here. I´m definitely craving some Chick-fil-a. The food here is terrible. It makes O-House & Bolton seem like a 5 Star restaurant. I think I´m going to give the guy in charge of food services a big hug when I return. Before I went out, I had to get pictures with some of the Spaniards. All of them are finishing up their finals, so most of them are leaving. There are just about 3 more people here that I´ve gotten to know really well. It´s actually a little sad, but they´ll hopefully come to Athens this year. I already know of a few who are going to make the trip. Moving on, I went out with Rachel to get some ice-cream & to get her dinner. She ended up going to McDonald´s. She´s been to McDonald´s more than me on this trip, and she´s only been here for less than a week. I´ve been here for over a month. So who´s the picky eater now???? HUH???!!! On the way to dinner, I ended up running into Matt (kid from La Noche de San Juan that I met at the beach). We decided to do our own thing for an hour & to meet back up at La Plaza de Virgen around 10:30. Rachel got her dinner, and I stopped off to buy some drinks. We went back to the dorm for a few minutes. I played UNO!! That was fun. A few girls met up with us as we went back to La Plaza de Virgen to meet up with Matt & his friends. We got some Agua de Valencia. It´s such a good drink. It´s made up of champagne, vodka, and orange juice. We walked all the girls back to the dorm because they were tired. Rachel wanted to get some good sleep since she had a 6:30 AM train to catch. Matt, his friends, and I left and went to visit Malu (bartender) at O´Hara´s. It´s right around the corner from our dorm. We had a few drinks and the other two split up. Matt & I were hungry, so we went to La Ultima Parada (the pizza place). I´ve gotten to become good friends with the pizza guys too. I talked to them and I complained that the pizza was small & I wanted a discount as a joke, and he told me since I show up so much, that they´d give it to me for less. I WAS VERY HAPPY!! We were walking in the street eating our pizza, and we came upon this little cafe named Cafe Negrito. It´s also right around the corner from our dorm. We started talking to these people from New Zealand. They asked me if I was from Ireland. He told me that I had a strong Irish accent. That´s something I did not know. There was this guy in the street juggling some fire. It was really cool. He also spit alcohol on it. I got a great picture of this huge fireball. They also balanced it on their faces. It was really cool to see. Around 3:30-4 in the morning, I decided I should probably head back to my place. I got an hour of sleep, and then woke up around 5:00 AM to walk Rachel to the train station. I stumbled back to my dorm to go back to bed, and slept until a little after noon. SATURDAY, JULY 2- I woke up and ate, and we went to a beach called Saler. It was amazing. It was so much cleaner, nicer, & prettier than the other peach that we usually go to. Our TA told us before, that also it has classier people than the beach we usually go to. It was obvious. I guess you could compare it to Pensacola, Destin, Panama City to Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach. The beach was great and the waves were huge. They were well over 5 feet, some up to 8 feet. It was great. I haven´t been to Hawaii, but this reminded me of all of those pictures of Hawaii and their beaches and waves. It was truly a sight to see to see and remember. (Comment on this)
Monday, June 27th, 2005
2:03 am	Malices, party, Aquarium, IMAX, bums etc.. SATURDAY, JUNE 25- We visited Manises, a small town west of Valencia. It is a town that prides itself on ceramics. It was a really pretty city. We went to a museum and we walked around the city for a few hours. It was a very nice little town. After that we returned to Valencia mid-afternoon. I went to the beach with some friends. To continue with the theme of Spaniards being quite open, next to us sat an old 60 year old woman topless...I'll just leave it at that....I want talk about how her boobs sagged down to her waist. Also, there was another couple around 30. I don't think they ever came up for air for an entire hour. We returned to the dorms from the beach, ate, and pregamed. We went out to dinner for a girl's 21st birthday. I tried paella which had some rabbit in it. It tasted good. I've eaten some stuff that I don't think I'd ever eat. MOM, THIS DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO START COOKING THINGS AND TELLING ME THAT I NEED TO EAT IT B/C I HAVEN'T TRIED IT!!!!!! THE ONLY REASON I'M TRYING THIS STUFF IS TO SURVIVE. I AM NOW ONE OF THOSE "STARVING KIDS IN EUROPE"!!!! Saturday night, we were invited to a neighborhood party, "Casal Falleros". It was a party thrown by the neighborhood of our culture teacher. We had a blast. There were some scandalous 6 year old girls there and their parents were instructing them on how to dance and whatever else. I had a great time because it was an event that was fun, but it really gave me a great perspective on another part of Spain. We all danced, drank cheap drinks, and had a blast. They had a semi-kareoke session in which they gave out paper sheets of the song. Our teacher requested that all of the students sing "La Bamba". We all had a blast & all the Spaniards enjoyed our show. After that we sang Happy Birthday to one of the girl's who just had her 21st b-day. The good thing about people on this trip who have birthdays is that when we have our weekly mandatory dinners on Monday, we get a really good cake. At the end of the night, they set off fireworks, which was really cool. SUNDAY, JUNE 26 Today we visited the "Oceanographico" which is the aquarium here. It was really cool. They had differenet sections. My favorite was the Arctic section b/c it was nice and cool, and they had penguins. It was really cool. We saw some sharks, dolphins, walruses, seals, sea lions and quite a number of fish. We then went to the IMAX. It was really amazing because it wasn't just a screen, but it was similar to an Omni IMAX (from what I've been told). It took up the ceiling too, and we just sat there reclined. The seats were great, and the movie was too. It was called, "The Mystery of the Nile". We came back to the dorm, and ate. Afterwards, I went out with Beth & Joanna and we had some ice-cream. Beth ran into a guy that she met last night at a bar. He's from Manchester England. We sat down with him & talked for about 2 hours. It was really great. We had a bunch of random conversations. At one point in time, we were talking about how all of the students here are trying to "get the best bang for their buck". Mark (the guy from England) started cracking up. He explained to us that in England, that word has another meaning. Without saying everything (this is supposed to be a PG-13 journal) think about the different meanings for bang (or atleast how it is used in slang). Got it? Other funny things that we saw were a few homeless men. One was dressed in a cape and had a walking stick. He was an old eccentric man. It gets better though. There was another man who had a whistle and a basket. Whenever a dog walked by, he started blowing his whistle at the dog. If it was a small dog, he would try to attract the dog and get it to crawl into the basket, and if it was a big dog, he would try to throw the basket as a frisbee onto the dogs head. He got one onto a dog's head & started to blow the whistle and he gave himself an applause. Also, he was very talented. He started directing traffic, with nobody around him, and also, when kids were playing soccer, he ran into the game and started acting as a referee. He gave one of the kids a yellow card and a red card. He basically told the kid to get off of the plaza. I couldn't stop laughing. Later, a group of kids sat down on steps near us, and he came running across the plaza blowing his whistle at the kids telling them to get off the steps. It was quite funny. All in all, this has been a very busy weekend. I enjoyed talking to Mark, and in general, I enjoy meeting different people from different countries, and talking to them. Is that a surprise to anyone? Afterwards, Beth told me that she was glad that I was there because she knew that I filled any moment where there could have been some awkward silence HAHA. I did some laundry (it sucks having to do laundry in the dorms and having to pay for it) (THANKS DIANNE FOR LETTING ME DO LAUNDRY AT YOUR PLACE IN ATHENS!!!) Anyways, I got to go to sleep so I can get atleast 6 hours of sleep tonight. HASTA LUEGO (Comment on this)
Friday, June 24th, 2005
9:47 pm	Classes, La Noche de San Juan and MORE!!! Hola y'all, First, if you look back or remember "Weekend in Barcelona," I mentioned that we drove through a roadblock. We recently read in the paper it was the Spanish Civil police cracking down on the Spanish Mafia. They made over 20 arrests. Anyways, on to tell you about the week of Monday, June 20-Friday, June 24. MONDAY, JUNE 20- We really didn't do much on Monday. We played a game of football (Amer. soccer). It was a great game. We had around 20-22 people, so we played the whole field and a "real" game. I also had to study for my test on Tuesday for my Spanish 4150 (culture class). We had to answer some questions and fill out an entire map of Spain and it's communities and provinces. TUESDAY, JUNE 21- I had my test for Spanish culture. It was pretty easy. I think I did pretty well on it. Again, I couldn't do too much because I had to study for my Spanish 4120 (business class). Tuesday night, there was a class to learn Spanish songs. The song I learned & remember most is Da Me Mas Gasolina (Give me more gas). Its music video is basically just about racing speedy cars. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22- I had my Business Spanish test today. I think I did pretty well. Afterwards, we went out with our teacher, Virginia. We went to a Mexian restaurant. I hate mexican food, but I just went & had a beer after a long day's work & chilled w/ the rest of my class. Tuesday night was party central since we had just had our midterms. The TAs planned on taking us to a Kareoke bar. Only problem was that the one they wanted to take us to didn't open until 2:30. We went to another one, but Kareoke didn't begin there until about 12:30, however, they had crappy music, so we left around 1 and came back home. THURSDAY, JUNE 23- I got my test back in my Spanish Culture class. I got a 95. Afterwards, we went to our business class. I got a 91 on that test. That is 25% of my grade, and the 95 is 10% of my grade. So far, unless I royally screw up, I should end up with A's in both classes. In our business class today, we talked about Americans, French, and the Chinese. We started telling jokes about all of the groups. This helped class go a little faster. As we left our classes, our teachers told us to make sure we didn't drink too much, but to have a good time. They just wanted all of us returning to class the next day. Thursday night was "La Noche de San Juan". On this night, you go to the beach and jump 7 waves for good luck. The beaches were ridiculously crowded. Imagine Mardi Gras & picture that on sand with an ocean. You could barely move. Everyone runs into the ocean at 12:00 AM and jumps the waves & as you jump the 7th wave, you make a wish. It's supposed to come true and you're supposed to have good luck for the remainder of the year. I was having such a blast, I decided to do it 3 times with a few different people. So I hope I'll get 3x as much good luck. We were all having a blast. They also build bonfires all over the beach, so it was really cool all lit up. Anyways, quite a few people were drunk, which brings me to the next day. FRIDAY, JUNE 24- We had to do our presentations today. My group didn't go yet. But if you remember from the day before, our teachers told us not to come to class drunk. Do you think everyone listened. Of course we did, because we are all so well-mannered at the University Georgia (listen to me laugh as I write this sentence). One of the girls was quite intoxicated still at 10:00 in the morning while giving her presentation. It was quite funny. Afterwards, we went to the NAU. It has a lot of information about the city of Valencia as well as the changes that Valencia has gone through over hundreds of years. It is part of the University of Valencia, but it's in a separate location from where we attend class. Oh, to add a funny comment from our business class today. Someone who was sober had to go to the bathroom, and our teacher asked where she was, so another student said she had a recaca horrible. Recaca means, well atleast caca means crap. He meant to say resaca, which means hungover, so we all got a good laugh out of that. After class, we played a game of football (American soccer). THINGS TO COME: SATURDAY, JUNE 25- We are going to a town, Manises. It is known for its ceramics. One of our TAs is from this town, so hopefully, it will turn out to be a really good tour and trip overall. Saturday night, we are going to Maria Jose's house (our culture teacher). She is having a party for all of us to attend along with her neighbors. She said if there is a lot of people there, then most likely we will have a bon fire and set off fireworks, and ultimately, have a kick butt party. That will be cool. SUNDAY, JUNE 26- We are going to an aquarium and also an IMAX theater. Sunday night, we will continue our theme of watching comedies, and our TAs have chosen another comedy for us to watch. Anyways, it's about 11:30 here, so it's time to start pregaming and heading out, so HASTA LUEGO. (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 23rd, 2005
2:01 am	My Window So it's about 2:00 in Spain & I guess it's 8:00 PM EST. I was just awakened by stuff being thrown at my window. I went to the floor below me and talked to the kid, and he said he heard bottles hit his balcony/window. Ain't that great to wake up to glass bottles being thrown at your window. Anyways, I'm going back to bed. We went to a Kareoke bar, and I had my 2 tests today & yesterday, & I think I did really well on them, but I guess I'll find out soon. Class is pretty secondary here because they encourage us to "immerse" ourselves in the culture. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 19th, 2005
6:15 pm	DAD´S DAY HAPPY FATHER´S DAY DAD. YOU HAVE A CARD IN THE MAIL (OR IT WILL BE TOMORROW). IT´S A VERY UNIQUE CARD THAT I BOUGHT IN BARCELONA. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK WHEN YOU GET IT. YOU´RE IN FOR A GREAT SURPRISE. (Comment on this)
6:15 pm	Weekend in Barcelona FRIDAY, JUNE 17- We arrived in Barcelona Friday night before dinner. It was great because we had some food that is pretty foreign to Spain. It´s something we call CHICKEN. The best part about the dinner was that I could identify everything on my plate. It was no mystery meat or some meat with a scary sauce. I loved it. Same for breakfast. I could eat more than toast. They had a bunch of cookies in packets, so I took those for the road. We had free time on Friday night, so everyone went out to live up the nightlife in Barcelona. We stopped off at the Hard Rock Cafe of Barcelona on the way back to our hotel. SATURDAY, JUNE 18- On Saturday, we went on a bus tour of Barcelona. Barcelona has definitely been my favorite city that I have visited. We drove through the city to see a lot of Gaudi´s works. We stopped off at the Barcelona Olympic Stadium (Estadi Olimpic). It was really nice. We drove by the Sagrada Familia. The tour of Barcelona was very nice. We went back to the hotel for lunch. I was very hungry, so me and some friends went down to the McDonalds. I got a Big Mac Value meal. It was the most amazing meal I have had since I´ve been in Spain. It was that damn good (and this is a McDonalds). Then I went back to the hotel for the real lunch. They had pork (what a surprise). If they had a meal without pork, I think it might signify the world coming to an end. After lunch we went to La Sagrada Familia and climbed all of the steps. The view was great. After La Sagrada Familia, we wanted to go to the Chocolate Museum, but it closed, so instead we chose to go to the Museo del Erotico of Barcelona. VERY FUNNY STUFF!!!. I definitely got some creative/funny pictures at this place. SUNDAY, JUNE 19- On the way back to Valencia, we stopped at a beach in Peñìscola. There were a ridiculous amount of dead fish (I think it might be competing with the Dead Sea, except here, you couldn´t float as easily, only the animals did). We walked around the town. It was really nice. We walked out along some sort of pier to a little lighthouse, and the view was great. You could only see water around you, and the water was very clean once we walked further from the beach. After the beach, we had to travel through a road block that was being performed by the Civil Spanish Patrol. It was cool. Our bus driver is crazy. As we drove through he was screaming "Americans on this bus". Then one of the TAs said jokingly "Andy, the police are looking for you." The bus driver started screaming and talking random stuff about Andy Garcia (he´s either an actor or singer here that´s vrey famous). We also almost hit a few cars, but atleast I was in the bigger bus. We finally made it home, somewhat safely. Now I got to get back to do some homework. School definitely seems secondary here, which is very nice. They are really trying to let us soak up everything regarding the culture and life in Spain. I love it. Hasta Luego. Tomorrow, we have a game of football in the Rio. Hopefully this time, no one will get too hurt. (Comment on this)
Friday, June 17th, 2005
2:39 am	Las playas, peliculas, partidos, concierto SUNDAY, JUNE 12- We went to the beach called Gandia. It was much cleaner than the free beach, however we had to take a train & a bus to get there. It was still worth it to be there once. One kid lost his wallet. He realized this as we exited the train station to go to the beach. He went back on the 1 hour trainride and actually found his wallet at the first station (he left it sitting on the counter where he purchased his ticket). For some reason he decided to travel one more hour to come back and try to meet up with us. He miraculously chose the right bus. He decided to get off at a certain busstop near the beach (there are quite a few) and somehow chose the exact same boardwalk that we were near. To say the least, he had a great day. He was pretty happy. Then while we were at the ocean, we saw a jellyfish. A few intelligent folks decided to go jellyfishing. Did they use a hook? No, of course not. What better tool to use to go jellyfishing than a plastic grocerybag. They caught the jellyfish in the bag & showed him around to everyone. Before throwing him/her back into the ocean, me and my creative (somewhat cruel mind) told me to tell them (of course as a joke) to put the jellyfish in a little kid's bucket. I WAS ONLY KIDDING, SO DON'T WORRY. There is a sad part to the story, they took me seriously, but luckily they decided not to put the jellyfish in a bucket (and they also were quite tempted to throw it in a little pool that a kid was sitting in). Fortunately, they threw the little jellyfish back into the ocean so it can sting some unlucky person. We returned from the beach, and watched a movie in the evening. It was really one of the funniest movies I've seen. Luckily they had subtitles. I probably would've been a little lost. It was a very dirty movie, but atleast it was funny. MONDAY, JUNE 13- After classes, we played a game of football (soccer). I scored a goal (YEAH!!). I played a little goalie & when someone was running towards me, he kicked the ball, but I blocked it. Unfortunately, his face was directly in the way of the kick, so he was nailed in the face. There was definitely a far-worse injury. An American kid (shooter) and a Spaniard (goalie) had a little battle going up for the ball. The goalie went up for the ball and got kneed in the chest by the american kid. He was down for a few minutes, so we postponed the game. In the end, it was a very fun game. The game was 4 days ago, and people are still a little sore, and we only played half-field. TUESDAY, JUNE 14- I went to the beach after class. We were at the beach, and Kate (one of the girls with us) came back and said hey, look out into the ocean at those people. We came to the realization that they weren't just moving around as a result of waves, but they were in fact having sex in the ocean. Add that to my list of what I've seen in Spain :) After that, I had a great siesta. I really love the siesta. It'll be hard to come back and have to stay awake. Siestas will definitely be one thing I bring back to the U.S. After the nap, we ate dinner, and watched a movie. The movie included the same cast & was made by the same director as the previous movie that we watched on Sunday, however, it wasn't a sequel. This movie as well was quite hysterical. It reminded me of an American pie with middle-aged people. We couldn't stop laughing. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15- We again went to the beach after class. We didn't see anyone having sex in the beach today. I got an egg & cheese sandwich at the University, and food had never tasted so good. It was the closest thing to real food that I've had since I've been here. When we got back from the beach, we had dinner, and then another class of colloquial spanish. I finished some homework, and then we went out to a few bars just to chill. It was very relaxing & I had a good time. We went to O'Hara's (we're becoming regulars now) and Malu is the bartender. She's really nice. She came over to us & told us to watch our stuff b/c two people that had just entered were known pickpocketers around the neighborhood. I headed back to the dorm, but first I stopped up to get some pizza. It was incredible & it definitely hit the right spot. THURSDAY, JUNE 16- I received my first graded homework assignment. We had to write a curriculum vitae (resume). I received a muy bien, perfecto. I came back from class today and I had to buy a book. We have to read a novel in Spanish written by a Spanish or Latin American author for a presentation. I wanted to buy a book before our trip to Barcelona, so I can start to read it on the bus ride there & back to help pass the time. I then went to bed b/c I wasn't feeling to well today. I feel like I'm developing allergies here or something. I slept really well, but I accidentally missed the trip that they took to the MUVIM. It's all good though, because it's close & it's free, so I'll probably head over there sooner or later. There was also a Israel-Palestinian debate that was held in the dorm. I wanted to attend, but I was in a rush because we went to see Garbage play in concert. It was a good concert & it was free. In the beginning the band said a few things in Spanish (just short phrases). The rest of the concert was in English. All the Spaniards could understand the songs, but when they started talking, people couldn't understand. That's when the Spanish people I was with turned to me and asked me to translate. Before I knew it, about 10 other surrounding people were trying to listen to me. It was pretty cool, because it showed me that everything is finally starting to pay off. Later in the evening, I was trying to say that I was hot. Instead of saying Tengo calor, I accidentally said Tengo caliente. You can't use caliente with people, you can only use it to describe water and other food etc.. Tengo caliente means I'm horny, so I accidentally said that. Luckily only a few people heard it, and they were pretty cool b/c I had helped them understand what the band was saying earlier. Thought that was a funny story. RANDOM THOUGHT OF THE DAY/SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE. There is a lot of dog-doo doo in the street here. I've also learned that the people really don't mind using the bushes, beaches, streets, etc as their bathroom. It really smells around here. It really makes me thankful that we have the "pick up the poop after your animal laws" in the U.S. Speaking of laws, I'm really more thankful for the no smoking in public places. People smoke like there's no tomorrow over here. Although it's "restricted" in the school, it's hard to breathe in some of the buildings as a result of the smoke. The police really don't do too much over here (enforcement wise). I guess they were trained by the Atlanta police. Sorry I don't know how I went from dog doo doo to police, but I'm sure someone can find a relation there. Anyways, it's about 2:30 now, so I'm going to head off for bed. We head to Barcelona for the weekend after class, and we'll be doing a lot of sightseeing over there. Hasta Luego. (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 16th, 2005
12:43 pm	Off to Barcelona This weekend, we are off to Barcelona. The thing that really isn´t cool is the fact that we have our tests on Monday and Wednesday. What do the teachers think we´re here for? School? I don´t think so. Definitely not. Well, I guess you have to take the good with the bad (I rather take the good and leave the bad). Today, our business teacher told us that next Wednesday (after our test), we would end class early and head over to a nearby Mexican restaurant. Anyways, I´ll keep stuff coming. Hasta Luego (y'all) (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 11th, 2005
10:05 pm	Museum and bullfight WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8- We had to go to a museum for our culture class to do a presentation. We went to El Museo de historia de Valencia. It was a little interesting. I think I had more fun though trying to figure out how to get to and from the dorm & museum using just a bus map in a foreign country. Not many people knew of the museum, but luckily our bus driver did & he helped us out & told us when to get off. Afterwards, we went over to the stadium to see Spain take on Bosnia for the last game of the season. It was the most amazing game I have ever seen, even though it was only the second game. Bosnia was up 1-0 (they definitely didn't deserve to be winning). Somehow they scored, even though they really sucked. The game had ended the regulation time, but, they have to make up the time that is taken away when people have injuries. During the last few seconds of the game, Spain tied it up to end the game 1-1. It was very exciting. The stadium and town went nuts, because it would've been a huge upset. I can sum it up with some words from a friend. We were in class the next day talking about the game, and the teacher asked about it. We started talking and the teacher or a student asked if Bosnia should have even scored. Another person said, "Come on, it's Bosnia." THURSDAY, JUNE 9- I was pretty tired on Thursday. I came home from school and took a 4 hour siesta. After dinner a group of us went up the street to a little cafe/bar, and we chilled there. It was a nice relaxing atmosphere. I really like the siesta (nap) thing they got going on over here. I wish the U.S. would pass a productive law doing something good for the people (how about mandatory siesta hours?). FRIDAY, JUNE 10- We went to the bull fight on Friday. Before, we went to the museum, El Museo Taurino, which has a lot of history about bull fights. It also had a pretty gruesome video. The bull fight was definitely interesting to say the least. They toy with the bull a little with a few different matadores. They bring 2 guys out on blindfolded horses (obviously sedated). They get the bull to move near the horse, which usually ends up causing the horse to get knocked around for a few seconds. The 2 guys on the horses then stab the bull with a javelin to weaken it and move it away from the horse. Then the matadores start toying with the bull longer Then after a few minutes, they have 3 matadores that each have 2 little swords. They attract the bull and stab the bull with the fishing hook swords. Then the main matadore comes out to end the show. He has his fun, and then at the end, he gets a huge sword and kills the bull. The bulls are definitely tough SOBs. I don't know of any animal that could be stabbed that many times and still run around and stay alive as much as they do. After the bull collapses, they stab it in the head with a little knife to ensure that it's dead and to stop whatever feeling it still has. Then they tie chains around the horns, and horses pull the bull out of the plaza. Sorry for the gruesome story. It was interesting to go to, and I'm glad I went one time, but I don't think that it's something that I could get season tickets to. After the bull fight, we all went out to some clubs and had some fun. SATURDAY, June 11- We went off on an excursion to Requena. We spent a few hours at a bodega. We were at this place that had over 5 million bottles of wine. This didn't include the thousands of barrels of wine that they had. It was ridiculous. The view was amazing with fields galore. At the end of the tour, we sampled some wine and champagne. The champagne was great. I bought a little wine. After the bodega, we traveled to a little town. We just referred to it as the little pueblo (town) because we literally had no idea the name of it. If you blinked you could've missed it. We went into some caves below a church. It was pretty interesting. It was different, so I enjoyed it. So far, so good. To borrow a word from my aunt. This experience is truly "incredible" Tomorrow we go to a beach. It's supposed to be really clean, and I've heard a lot of good things about it from the Spanish students. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 7th, 2005
6:59 pm	El Michalet and Stuff to come This week, we have an exorbitant amount of activities. Tomorrow, June 8, we are going to the football game (American soccer). Spain is playing Bosnia, and we were told that tomorrow is the last game of the season, so it will be very exciting. Later, this Friday, we are doing what I think is a must while in Spain; we are going to a bull-fight. At least we aren’t running with the bulls. Actually, running with the bulls will take place at the end of the trip, so who knows where I’ll be (nah, just kidding). MONDAY, JUNE 6- We went to The Cathedral in Valencia and climbed El Michalet. The view was amazing because we could see all of Valencia, including El Colegio Mayor (our dorm) and the football stadium. While we were atop El Michalet, we were surprised when the bell started to ring. It was louder than I could have imagined and it startled everyone since we were directly under it. TUESDAY, JUNE 7- We had a class over colloquial Spanish today. It was great. We learned a lot of slang and this will help me with some general vocabulary that is spoken frequently around the dorms. My favorite word that I learned is puta madre. It sounds bad, but it’s actual meaning is much more positive than what most of you are thinking. It means "freaking brilliant" or "really darn cool". STUFF TO COME: WEDNESDAY- We are going to watch a movie, Tapas, in the park. Afterwards, we will head over to the stadium to see Spain take on Bosnia for the last game of the season. THURSDAY- We are going to “El Centro histórico de Valencia”. Later in the evening, we will go to a concert at a club to hear a Latin music group. FRIDAY- We will go to El Museo Taurino during the day, and Friday night, we head off to the bullfight. I can’t wait to see the bullfight. That will be incredible. SATURDAY- We are off on an excursion to Requena. We will spend much of the afternoon tasting different wines, and then we will have a picnic for lunch. SUNDAY- We are taking a trip to a beach in a different part of Valencia. It’s supposed to be one of the nicest beaches in Valencia. We will also have a picnic at the beach. Sunday night, we are going to watch a movie in the dorm. MONDAY- We will play sports in the park after school. Later in the evening, we are going to eat dinner as a group. We have mandatory dinners every Monday at 9:00. It gives us a chance to receive announcements and to just chill as a group. UGA en España is really amazing. Thus far, I’ve had a blast, and we’ve only been here for a week. Although this is a costly trip, it is definitely indescribable, and I have no regrets whatsoever. This trip is providing me with an experience of a livetime that I will never forget. The people, the culture, the country, and the college are all incredible. I have met some amazing people along the way, both from UGA and the University of Valencia. Also, I have created some great friendships with some folks from UGA as well as Valencia. We have a lot of different people in the group, but ultimately, we all mesh together really well. The TAs are great, as are our the teachers. The TAs are providing us with numerous activities. I can’t believe what I have done this past week, and I can’t imagine what more I will be doing in the weeks to come. Hasta Luego. (1 Comment |Comment on this)