Semanita

Monday I woke up and showered and went to have my last session of laser hair removal. Then I came home and stopped by Pepa's for a bit of internet. Then I came upstairs, made a saladfor lunch. I had been feeling stuffed all day and didn't eat dinner the night before so a salad was just what I needed. I also had made homemade crutons from some leftover bread, which turned out great! Then I washed my dishes and took a nap. Then I woke up and went to work with the babies. It was an especially interesting class. The lesson was going to be about a birthday story and since I had just had a birthday, I brought in candles and a lighter as visual aides. Everything was going as planned until the one kid who always acts up, jumps up to blow out the candles I was holding in front of my face and spits all over me. Then I spilt hot wax on my hand. Then later a kids asked if he could go to the bathroom, I of course said yes, and bent down to tie the bad kid's shoes. As I was doing so, at the exact moment I looked up, he sneezed and sprayed all over my face. Then another kid completely took off his shoes and socks. Then I realized that bathroom kid had never came back, so I went to look for him and found him sitting on the pot, soaked to the socks in pee, with a huge puddle at his feet. I left the kids alone and went to find someone to help the pee kid, since I don't get paid to clean up pee, nor did I have any resources to help him. The teacher said she would be right up, which in Spanish means, I'll do something else till I get off work and then leave, leaving pee kid sitting on the pot, still soaked. So, then grandma came to pick up no shoe boy and almost left without realizing he wasn't wearing shoes or socks, then she got upset because he had a cold and was going to get worse if he was barefoot. I told her he did that by himself, after I told him not to and I was trying to deal with the other kids running around the room peeing on things. Then the last dad came to pick up the last 2 kids and I asked him to please remind someone to come help this kid. He did, but they didn't respond so I went down and asked again. Once again a different lady said she'd be right there. Then she came up and told me to leave. Then she went downstaris with me, still leaving pee kid upstairs, alone, soaked in pee. I just left and went to the academy to get more materials. Then I came home and practiced guitar and then went downstairs to get the computer. Then after a bit I brought it up here and internetted while watching tv with Zore. Then Rosa and Raquel and Mari came over to watch the finale of Fama, which pretty much ruined my night. When they watch tv, they talk constantly, which is somehting I don't do at all. I take tv very seriously. But anyway, I ate soup with crutons for dinner, since my stomach was still upset and I was still feel enh and watched Fama from 10:15 till 2 AM. I am so glad its over and that I can have my life back. It reminds me of that saying that sin will take you father than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay. And Fama isn't even a sin! So then I obviously went to bed.

Today I woke up and went to guitar. Then I came home, ran into Alicia and her mom and Nachete and went running. Then I started internetting and have been doing so ever since. I haven't showered, but I did eat lunch, another salad with crutons. Now I am going to go to work, and then meet Michelle for free Ben and Jerry's ice cream cone day, which hopefully will go well. I am pretty excited because tomorrow is my favorite day of work and the last for the week as Thursday and Friday are a holiday. That's why this blog is just about a little week, because vacation starts tomorrow night!

More Birthday Fun

So I was born on Earth Day, as well as Easter, and Victor was born on Book Day in Spain. There has been a big book fair all week because of that. I called Victor Tuesday night at midnight for his birthday and then went to bed.

Wednesday morning I woke up and went to work. Fernando ended up cancelling class on me so I used the internet and printed off some birthday invitations. Also everyone kept coming over to tell me Happy Birthday, and the teachers in the English Department gave me a present with three perfumes. They don't actually smell very good, but it was really sweet of them. Then I had an hour of class with teachers and then an hour with kids. Then I went home and ate lunch and watched Fama. As of Monday I had stoppped taking the dizzy medicine and I felt pretty well. But since I had taken almost all last week off from running it was really difficult to get back in the swing of things. So I reluctantly went running and practiced guitar and then went to have dinner with Nacho and Alicia. On the way I talked to Victor again for his birthday. I had again eaten a salad for lunch because I usually have a yummy dinner with Nacho and Alicia. Our dinner was yummy, but light, so I was still hungry. It was ham and cheese and bread. We ate dinner and chatted but didn't actually have class. Then I came home, did some things for school and the party and went to bed.

Thursday I went to work, talked with Michelle about last minute party details and life, as she had a cancelled class when I had a break. Work was fine, the normal except for my last hour of class got cancelled so I got to leave and hour early. I did some shopping on the way home, made lunch, watched Fama, and went to guitar. Guitar went well and when I got home I helped Pepa with the internet a bit. She has started to learn how to work a computer. The first time I helped her I thought it was the cutest thing in the world. She didn't even know how to move the mouse or turn it on and off. That got old really fast. Now, each time I go over there there are a lot of questions and me trying to explain why and how her email gets to her box, and not mine, etc etc etc... So all in all, I didn't get what I wanted to get done because I was helping her and went to see Antonio, my guitar teacher's chorus practice. He has been inviting me all year and I have never gone, so I thought I would finally do it, even though I had a lot of other things to do. So I went to that and then came home, ate dinner and went to bed.

Friday morning I woke up and went to work. I spent the first hour translating and talking with the French aide who was distracting me. Then I tried to use the internet but it was broken. So I just waited for class to start and kept translating a bit. Then class, all normal and I went home, stopping by a few stores on the way. I ate a quick lunch and drank a coke because I was tired and knew I had a long day ahead of me. I watched a little bit of Fama and then went to have class with Pablo. Right at the end of Fama I had him turn on the tv and pretended to talk about it in English, unfortunately, his mom came in shortly thereafter and caught us, so I felt stupid. But I stayed a little extra, and his mom didn't seem to care so then I went home and started shopping. As usual I had left everything for the last minute for the party, some because of circumstances and others because of tiredness, but I had a lot to do. I went to at least 4 or 5 stores, buying coke, sprite, orange fanta, mixed nuts, olives, plates, cups, bowls, candles, etc etc etc. So then I stopped by Pepa's to ask her to make ice and she made the mojo picón, a spicy dip. I was really hungry and she had made potato salad for dinner, and while I was there Raul came home. I thought we were going to eat dinner then, but we didn't so I went to my house. There I snacked and then thought of going down to use the computer to download pictures, and maybe then we would have dinner. So I waited a bit, and got drugged into helping Pepa more and finally we ate dinner. I know I'm bad. Then I came back upstairs and baked a cake, baked cookies, washed dishes, moved furniture, cleaned and moved it back. I was supposed to talk to Jose that night about the final details for the suprise but he was no where to be found. I finally went to bed around 1, exhausted. I didn't go running Thursday or Friday.

Saturday morning I woke up early and went running. Then I spent the morning, cleaning, helping Pepa, who was making the empanada and tortilla, and watching the kids and taking the trash and this and that and showering and hair and trying to get in touch with Jose. Victor was a little late that day and I finally talked to Jose around 2 o'clock and we concocted a half-baked plan for the suprise. Then Victor got there and we all ate lunch. Then he came over to my house and I gave him his birthday presents, a sweatshirt and season 1 of LOST. He really liked it and then fell asleep. He had been in Valencia all week and in a meeting all morning. So the plan was going perfectly. All I had to do was keep Victor in at home, his or mine untill 7:30 or 8, Jose would come and get him and then I could get ready and Michelle and Jenna could come over to help set up. Well for some unknown reason, when Victor woke up, for the first time this year, he felt like leaving the house! I don't know why, and as much as I tried to stall, or dissuade him I couldn't. So we went for a walk, and I was freaking out wondering how Jose was going to contact him, since Victor had left his cell phone at home. Then I saw Michelle and Jenna, all dressed up, loaded with supplies for the party. I was hoping Victor woudln't see them, but of course we did. We chatted for a bit and they said they were going to get a tapa. It is impossible for me to lie. Then I convinced Victor that he should get a haircut in the Corte Inglés, and as we were about to go in, Jose called me. He talked to Victor and told him to call him as soon as he got out of the haircut. So while he was doing that, I called Michelle and Jose, and gave them the scoop. Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to get Victor to go back home to see what Jose wanted, I also said I wanted to change shoes if we were going to continue walking. Then at Jose's, he invited us to hang out and I politely declined, saying they needed guy time, and that I could call Michelle and Jenna who were close by getting a tapa. Instead I went down and started moving furniture and setting stuff up. Then Michelle and Jenna got there and started helping. I was going to jump in the shower but then Pepa and the 2 kids came over to see the decorations, which hadn't been set up yet. They were there for a while, and I finally told them that I had to get in the shower, as it was already 8:30 and that's when I told people to start coming over. So I started getting ready and a bit later the first guests came. I was having the girls help me with my outfit and finished getting dressed and did my make up. Slowly the people started coming, the last ones came around 9:30 and we had a pretty good group. All of my friends were there and a lot of Victor's friends. Not all of them could come, but a lot of important ones did, and it was a great group. Then at a quarter to 10 I gave Jose a toque and he told Victor that I sent him a message that they should go down to my house. Everyone was quiet and in the living room with the lights off, I answered the door and Victor said, "Why are you dressed like that?" I said I was going to go out with Michelle and Jenna, he said ok and Jose started to go towards the living room. He went in, then I did, and then I turned on the lights and Victor came around the corner, peeked in and went in and eveyone yelled, "SUPRISE!!!" or actually "SORPRESA!!" His mouth fell open and his eyes got big and round and he didn't say anything. After a while he said something like, "Forget all you guys!" and turned and walked away, he was so shocked and almost crying (almost for Victor, who never cries, so not that close for normal people). Then he came and said hello to everyone and he loved it. It was the perfect suprise and we had a ton of food and people and balloons and it was great. It was a perfect suprise party, I unfortunately forgot to get a picture or video of the suprise, but oh well. We were there for a while untill the group windeled down to a few of Victor's friends, and Michelle, Jenna, Brand and Samar. We didn't really know where or what we wanted to do afterwards and Victor's freinds went to hang out in their homemade music studio, but we didn't and couldn't decide. Untill we decided that we would go there too. It was a small group and kept getting smaller throughout the night. We were just there, hanging out and listening to and playing music. All of Victor's friends there either play the guitar, the cajón, or sing flamenco. It was cool, one of those experiences that not all study abroad kids are privy to. We were there till about 4 and came home, ate leftovers and went to bed.

Sunday morning, Victor came over to help me clean which we did till a little after 2 when lunch was ready. Then even though I wasn't hungry since it felt like I had just eaten, I ate a huge plate of paella, which was a delicious mistake. Then in typical Spanish style, we watched tv and I fell asleep for over an hour. My dad called and I had a 1 minute conversation with him between dreams. Then Jenna called and her, Brad and Samar were going to come over after their hippy coffee time. Victor went for a run and I kept cleaning up a bit, waiting for them to get there. They finally did and we chatted and munched on leftovers, which for me was another mistake. Then Victor came over and we all hung out for a while. Everyone loves my appartment and its views and Jenna wants to live here next year. Then after everyone left, Victor and I went to Nacho and Alicia's for a bit and played with their new Wii Fit. We were there till after 10 and then Victor took me home and went back to Malaga. I tallked with my mom, dad and sister, watched the second to last Fama and finished cleaning. Then around 1 I went to bed. It had been a perfect weekend and a great birthday week.

¡Virgen Santísima! ¡Que Los Pillara!

So I started off my birthday with a call from Victor. Then I went to bed. In the morning, I set my alarm and woke up early to open my presents. I had a package from my parents, a card from my grandparents, a package from Deanna and a card from my friends Melissa. I opened it all in about 5 minutes. They were all really nice, but honestly I was a little dissapointed. I was so excited it was my birthday, and it was all over in 5 minutes. I had only asked for money, and that's what I got, but not even the actual bills. Just photocopies. Especially since Victor's gift was the sunglasses I picked out, and Pepa's was the shoes I picked out. So after 5 minutes of opening, the birthday suprise and excitement had ended. So I reluctantly went running, ate my favorite breakfast of sobaos (spongey cakes) and chocolate milk that I had bought for myself. Then I went to guitar without changing or showering, which went ok and came home. I went downstairs to use the internet and figure out how many kilos or grams was 2lbs of meat. There I talked with Pepa, and Patricia called to wish me a happy birthday. I also talked with Victor's grandma, abuela. When I told her how old I was, she said, "Holy, Holy Virgen! If I could be that young!" More or less a translation of this blog. It was so funny. I had a good conversating with her. She is 83 and really old. She was telling me about when Victor was a little kid and all the other crazy things that old people talk about. Then I went to the grocery store and bought all the food to make beef stew for my roommates. Then I started to cook, I made the salad, cut up all the vegetables, and then started with the meat. Only then I realized that the meat took an hour to simmer, and that I should have made everything backwards. I had told everyone to be ready for lunch at 2, and I started the meat at 1:30. So then my roommates had gone shopping for my present that morning, then came home and got it ready. Then Adri's girlfreind came over and gave me a pretty silver necklace. Then I decided to start boiling the veggies in a different pot to save some time. While we were waiting for the stew, I opened my presents from my roommies. They really suprised me with three candles, a pink one for Rosa, a brown one for Adri, and a green one for Zore. Also a mug with a bull on it for Taurus, and a nice white blouse and the best was a really nice brown watch. I was really shocked and suprised and it was so sweet of them all. Then in the mail, a package from my Uncle Mark and my Uncle Phil and family, so I opened that with my roommates too. Then I put in the dumplings and took a quick shower. Then finally the lunch was ready and we ate. Everyone pretty much liked it. Violeta didn't eat very much, but Rosa cleaned her plate. I thought it was delicious and I was so proud of my self. Then I watched Fama and washed the dishes between phone calls from my grandparents, mom and dad. Then I went to work for 2 hours with Carlos and Marta and during the last hour, Katie called me. Then I ran a few errands and talked with Deanna and Katie again. Then I went and waited for my friends to go to dinner at Chile Grande, a Mexican place I have been wanting to try for 2 years. While I was waiting I sent text messages for the party and a strange Moroccan lady came and talked to me and offered me some of the ice cream she was eating. Finally my friends got there and rescued me and we went to dinner. We were waiting for everyone for a bit and looking at the menu. We got nachos and I got a chimichanga and then chocolate cake. Michelle and Jenna gave me a present with a crown, a screaming monkey, a brownie, a big balloon and Samar gave me some candy. My dad had sent me 6 individual cups of peanut butter which I decided to give out as party favors. Everyone absolutely LOVED them. They were so excited to have a little bit of the states and everyone started planning how and when they were going to eat it, Michelle's plan included licking it on the way home. During dinner my sister called as did Nacho. My sis's gift didn't get there and she apologized. I also got a call from Alicia earlier in the day. Then I went home. When I got home, I saw another package on my bed and it was from my sister! She gave me a book and a cd and it was the perfect end to a birthday that got better as it went on. Then at midnight Icalled Victor to wish him as happy birthday as it was his birthday! Then I went to bed.

Malaga and Monday

So Saturday as previously mentioned I woke up and used the internet, hacked into Victor's computer to plan for Victor's suprise party I was throwing next week, showered and did stuff until Victor came home just before 2. We went to eat lunch at a seafood place and got our favorite fried baby squids, a sole filet and friend octopus. Usually when you get octopus, it's cut up in pieces, or it's just the legs, but they gave us a whole, entire octopus! It was awesome! It came on a plate with scissors to cut it up! The whole lunch was so good, especially because I was starving! Then after lunch we went to Mercadona to get supplies for the weekend, and then to the mall. We went straight to H&M and spent the next 2 hours there. Well I did, Víctor spent the first 20 minutes there, and then walked around the whole mall, and then some more time in H&M, all before I was done. I totally scored. I bought a purple t-shirt, a green one, a black halter top, and a white halter top, a teal strapless top, a teal dress with white polka dots, and 6 socks all for 77€! I was very happy and pleased because I was going to use the teal top as my birthday outfit and I really liked everything, and for all the stuff I got, that was a great price!! Then we went back home and rested, watched tv and talked before going out again. We went to a different mall, called Plaza Mayor and saw Fuera De Carta, a funny Spanish film about a resturant owner. The shopping center was cool, it was set up like an old Spanish ranch with resturants and plastic animals all around. Then we went home. At home we watched a documentary about the shooting at Columbine and then the first half of Bowling for Columbine. Then bed.

Sunday, since we had stayed up so late, we slept in till almost noon. Then we got ready and packed and went to lunch at an Italian place. I wanted to get some red meat since, I almost never cook that for myself, and I saw this dish called beef cappriccio with parmesean cheese and rucula. It sounded delicious and the waiter recommended it to me. Turns out, it was an appetizer, it was really big and came with bread and a garlic pesto olive oil to put it all together, but it wasn't a cooked dish, it was a type of dried meat, with the cheese and a few green weeds on top. It was good, but I felt stupid eating a whole appetizer as my lunch. Oh well, then after lunch we met up with my friend Ghizlaine, who was Deanna's roommate when we were studying here. We got tea at a tetería, which is like a café that serves tea. In Granada they are in he Albaycín and cool little nooks that take you back in time, but in Malaga, they are more or less normal and borring but serve tea. Then I had to catch the bus back, finished the book I had started on the way there and walked home in the rain. It had been bad weather all weekend and even worse in Granada. I ran into Jose right as we were both getting home and he came over to help me plan the party. Then I un packed and went to bed.

Monday morning I woke up and brought a bunch of stuff down to Pepa's and she volunteered to make a ton of food for the party. Then I went running in the rain a bit and showered and cleaned the house. Then I went shopping and bought a necklace I wanted for that weekend, and shoes that I wanted, that Pepa had given me money for for my birthday. Then I came home, ate and went to work. Then after work, Victor had canceled class on me so I practiced guitar and went to dinner at my friend Jenny's house. I had eaten salad for lunch because she's always talking about how much she likes to cook, so I was excited to have someone else cook for me. Turns out her idea for dinner was a large salad. I was starving. Then I came home and ate a snack and watched tv. At midnight, Victor called me because it was officially my birthday!

Don't Call It Fake, Dangit*!

Here is the promised blog entry written by my friend, Brett Warren Huff, about WWE. Enjoy.

"As many of you know, I am a wrestling fan. And as a wrestling fan, I get a lot of heat from people who do not understand the appeal of the squared-circle. They tell me that it is fake, it is not a real sport, and the acting and storylines are terrible. And I don't dissagree with them. But if that is all you are looking at, then you really don't see the real art of professional wrestling.
Wrestling is not about sport. The winners are decided well in advance. But there is a competition that happens in the ring that not everyone sees. Wrestlers who win matches don't win because they beat their opponent up. They win because the company has confidence in them to entertain the fans. Usually this means that they are good at creating the illusion of what we see as fighting. Pretending to get hurt almost hurts as much as actually getting hurt. I know that sounds funny, but these men inflict pain on themselves every day, but they inflict just enough to make it believable and not enough to put anyone out of commission. This takes a great deal of skill and practice, much like any real sport.
The acting is usually terrible, but what else can you expect from these guys? They are paid to get hurt and get a crowd excited. The acting has to be over the top in order to generate a response in front of a live crowd, just as stage actors act differently than those in films or on television.
I know what you're thinking: maybe I can believe the part about the wrestlers being athletes, and maybe I can understand the bad acting, but why should I find it entertaining? The answer is this: two of our societies favorite pastimes are sports and drama. Wrestling combines both of these. All it is is scripted sports, and what could be better than that? During real sports broadcasts, the broadcasters are always trying to find some drama in the game that will intrigue us. Example: Shaq and Kobe. Ooooooo, can't you feel the tension between them? Or when Ron Artest went into the stands and attacked fans. That was in the news for weeks and we just ate it up. Or how about that episode of Friends where they play football on Thanksgiving day? That's one of the best episodes they ever did. Combining sports and drama is one of the best ways to entertain people.
So don't tell me wrestling is fake. It is no more fake than the rest of the shows you'll watch on television. That's like telling someone that those people on Lost aren't really the survivors of a plane crash. And any injuries those characters suffer aren't real. But wrestlers hurt themselves everyday to entertain us. They will even cut themselves when you're not looking in order to make it realistic (Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels do it on a daily basis, I think). Tell them its not real. I'm sure you'll get a knife edge chop accross the chest. Woooooooo!"

* Edited from original version.

Vertigo

Sunday I started feeling dizzy again. Monday I still felt dizzy all day. After blogging I ate lunch with all my roommates. Rosa and Zore made a big pasta and asked if I wanted some, and Adrian ate with us too. It was kind of strange as we had just had such an awkward week last week and now everything was so normal. But I guess that's better than it being awkward because no one is talking or something. Then I showered and went to work with the babies. It went well, but I was still really dizzy. Then I went to the Academy, got materials, talked on the phone to my mom and went shopping with Michelle until I had class with Victor. It went well but he decided to only have 1 hour of class a week. Then I went to the grocery store and went home. No one was there so I practiced guitar for a bit till my roommates came home. Then I made dinner and watched a bit of tv, organized some papers for my classes and went to bed, still really dizzy.

Tuesday I woke up and thought my dizziness was gone, and then I sat up. I was by now a little freaked out and instead of running, decided to go to the doctor. She gave me a few little tests for vertigo, none of which made me dizzy, of course, and said that it was a very mild vertigo. She then gave me a prescription and said it would be gone by the end of the week. I went to the pharmacy and got it, went home and ate breakfast. Then I went to guitar, which didn't go so well because I don't practice enough, and I felt like crap. Then I came home and even though I still didn´t feel well, I made myself leave the house. I returned a book I borrowed from María's office and visited with her for a bit. Then I went shopping and bought the rest of Victor's birthday present and looked for a cute outfit for me, but I didn't find anything. Then I went home and made a lentil salad with hard boiled egg, green and red pepper, garlic and lentils. It was pretty good, but a pain to cut up all that pepper really small. Then I went to the school I no longer have class at to give the kids their English Frog nametags we had been using all year. I thought they would really appreciate my effort because they loved their nametags and always wanted to take them home before. One kid wasn't there, the other said thank you and gave it to his mom, and the little, quiet girl I mainly went for, because she almost cried the first time I took it back from her said she didn't want it and didn't talk to me. That's what you get for being a nice person. Then I walked all the way back home and watched tv and rested a bit before going to work again with Carlos and Marta. It went well and then I came home and I visited Pepa and Emilio and used the internet for a bit. Then tv and things at my house till I went to bed. I didn't go running that day either.

Wednesday I woke up, still a little dizzy, and went to work and used the internet in the morning. Fernando called up to the teacher's lounge and said he was too busy to have class, so I just kept using the internet for the first hour and during recess. Then class with Rafa and Jose Antonio, and 1 class with kids. I made plans with Michelle to go shopping that afternoon and rushed home. I ate a quick, light lunch and then went and practiced guitar for an hour. Then I was going to go running because I had to if I was going to recover all the missed days, changed, and then realized that I was nuts because I still didn't feel very well, and was still dizzy. So I changed again and went and watched TV with Adri. Then I went and met Michelle for shopping. We shopped all around and Michelle bought a ton of stuff but I didn't find anything that I liked. Or what I did like, didn't fit. Well I did buy one cute pair or shorts, but those aren't for my birthday. Then I went home and dropped stuff off and went for class with Nacho and Alicia. The kids were still awake so things were a little more hetic. We ate fajitas for dinner which were really yummy, and halfway through Nacho said he was tired and officially changed the language to Spanish. So then Alicia put the kids to bed, and Nacho fell asleep and I watched the soccer game for a while till Alicia came back out. She lent me some cute clothes to try on since I hadn't found anything. Then we woke Nacho up to take me home, which he did. I did some things at home and went to bed.

Thursday I didn't have to go to work for the first hour so I slept in late, woke up and did some things around the house. Then I went running in a light rain. I only went for 20 minutes, but its better than nothing. Then I ate some breakfast and took a shower. As soon as I turned off the water I heard the doorbell ringing. I rushed to answer it and it was the mailman with my birthday package from my mom and dad. I saved it for Tuesday. Then I finished getting ready and went to work. Work went pretty well and I was in a pretty good mood. Then Michelle and I walked down together and I went home and made lunch. I made a delicious chicken fajita salad. It was really good. Then I watched Fama with the roommies and went to guitar. It went pretty well as well. Then I came home and dropped off my guitar and went to meet Michelle for WWE RAW WRESTLRMANIA! The original plan was for me to go with Nacho and Nachete, but Nachete was sick and Nacho thought it was going to rain, which it didn't and so he said I could have his tickets. So I invited Michelle, and we tried to sell the other ticket, which was impossible. Then we went to her gym and tried to sell the ticket to all the body building fanatics there, but no one wanted to stop working out. Finally, we found this one guy, Iñaki who wanted to go, but couldn't pay, so I gave up and gave it to him. Then the 3 of us went. It was really fun, filled with lots of screaming, and ridiculousness. We ate sunflower seeds till we couldn't anymore and enjoyed the wonderfullness that is WWE wrestling. If you don't appreciate WWE, I soon hope to post a blog entry written by my childhood freind, Brett, which should clear up all of your doubts. So then after the fight I walked home which took really long as the bullfighting ring is very far away from where I live. Then I was so tired and went to bed.

Friday morning I woke up at 7 to go to work. I tried to pack a bit and get a little organized, since I knew I had a full, full day. I got ready and went to wait for the bus. Since it was earlier, there was more traffic and since it was raining pretty hard, the buses were full. I waited 10 minutes for mine only to have it pass by and not even stop because it was so full. Then I was really angry. I get a little frustrated with the buses sometimes because mine comes every 13-15 minutes but not on the hour. So I am always missing it, or waiting for it as I watch the other buses that run every 5-8 minutes pass by. So by now I was going to be late, but decided to get another bus, get off at a different stop and get the 7 where there would be less people. Thankfully my plan worked and I made it to work just barely on time and didn't get soaked, like most everybody else. Then I had an hour of class, which went really well and was really funny. For some reason I got the giggles and could not stop laughing, which got the kids started too. I was almost crying, but from laughter. The first time that's happend all year. Then I prepared for a class I was teaching all by myself for an hour and a half with Rafa's techy help. Then I corrected some papers and went to another class. It also didn't go very bad and then i finished grading papers and returned them to the kids and went to another class. They were supposed to be working on an oral exam on a book, but most were starting to read the book, so I was able to buy my ticket to Malaga, for that night. Then I had the class I was teaching all by myself where I brought in a song to listen to. Then the teachers were having another meal. This time it was habas with ham. Instead of being cooked like Pepa usually makes them, they were just the raw beans, and the cut ham. There was also lots of bread, cheese and olive oil for dipping. It was so delicious, and I ate way too much. The habas were ok, I prefer them cooked but I was in heaven with the meat, cheese, bread and oil. It was so Spanish! Then I had to leave early again and took the bus home. I had to switch buses in the middle again because the 7 comes so infrequently, but made it home, stopped by Mercadona, the grocery store to buy Adri some cheese I borrowed from him and shaving cream. Then I rushed to work with Pablo which went well as he still had the second half of his trip to France to tell me about. Then I rushed home, finished packing, visited Pepa and got some stuff to bring to Victor and then came back upstairs, repacked and Adrian took me to the bus station. I had been going all day! I read on the bus and Victor picked me up. Then we went home and dropped off my stuff and went to get a pizza. He had just gotten back from Madrid that day and by now I was pooped so we ate the pizza and calzone and went to bed.

This morning Saturday April 19th, he had a meeting and I have been using the internet. He should be home soon and I´m staving. My big plan for coming to Malaga this weekend is going to H and M, a store we don't have in Granada to look for a new birthday outfit. Other than that I don't know what we're going to do. I still am feeling dizzy, but each day is a little better. It's only when I lay down and sit up. And I haven't gone running at all this week except for Thursday. I'm a little dissapointed to break my record that I've had since Januray, (minus Spring Break) but I've been sick. Ok I guess that's it! :)

Gloomy Week

Monday April 6th was a regular day. I woke up and went running and then came back and used the internet for a long time. I ate lunch, returned the computer and went to work in the afternoon. Then I went to the academy, got more of the story about what had happened with the class, got more materials and came home. I talked on the phone to my mom and then went and had class with Victor Perez. Then I talked on the phone to my sister and went and met Michelle and her two uncles who were visiting, Jenna, Kristen and her dad. We had two rounds of tapas and then I went home. I think when I got home, Raquel and her sister were there with Rosa and Zore. I went in my room and cleaned and got organized for my classes. Then I went to bed.

Tuesday April 7th I slept in more than I should have, but decided to get up at the last minute and run before guitar. Then I also decided to shower, at the last minute. So I went to guitar at the last minute, actually a little late. But it was good and I talked with Antonio about what I wanted to do, and guitar goals, that didn't include all the things he wanted, and we looked up stuff on the internet. So it was a good class since I hadn't practiced before. Then I came back and ate something and went out shopping. I bought some stuff for Victor's birthday and our anniversary and I finally found some acceptable salad tongs to replace the ones of Pepa's that I had broken. Then I came home and ate some lunch, Raquel and Maribel were still there and then watched Fama. I was going to go to my old class and give the kids their necklaces, but I didn't because it was raining. It was really sunny and warm the whole weekend, but that ended Monday when it was overcast and cold and it started raining Tuesday. It was bad weather the whole week. So then I went to class with Carlos and Marta but Marta wasn't there so I only had class with Carlos. At some point during the day I went grocery shopping. Then I came home and talked to my mom on the phone, ate dinner, tv, used the internet and Jose came over for a bit and then I went to bed.

Wednesday it was really raining, and I went to work. I was pretty tired and the rain was a huge downer. Especially because Michelle and I had plans to take sandwiches to El Mirador de San Nicholas and eat them with her uncles. I had brought a sadwich but when we got out of work and it was pouring down rain, that's not exactly when you want to go to a plaza and have a picnic. So we hung out for a while, and I started eating because I was starving. Finally the rain let up a bit and she went to meet her uncles and I went to catch the bus home. The bus was a good idea at first because I didn't want to get soaked, but then there was a ton of traffic and more and more people got on and I started to not feel so well. I finally got off and went home. By now I felt really bad. I went to Pepa's and ate some soup she had invited me over for and then went upstairs. I watched Fama for a bit and asked my roommates for the money they owed me since I had been the only one to buy anything for the house in a while. I hate being petty because between 4 people it turns out to be 1 or 2 €uros each but all together, its 8 or 10 for Rachel. Then I went and layed down and tried to sleep. I finally fell asleep amidst all the noise, and when I woke up no one was there. Michelle was going to get tapas again with her uncles, but I had class with Nacho and Alicia. But during my nap I got text messages from Victor Perez, cancelling class, Alicia cancelling class and Michelle cancelling tapas. The rain was ruining everything. So I had absolutely no plans. So I practiced guitar untill Zore got home, and then went running. I went a little bit further out and walked back more since I had time to kill, but during the last bit, it started to rain again, so I started to run again. Then I came back home and no one was there so I got into my pjs, ate dinner, wrote some postcards, and watched tv. Then Rosa and Zore came home and went straight to their rooms. Then they came out in the middle of my program and asked if they could change the channel. I said yes, but a little annoyed, as I was obviously watching a show. They after a bit they left and said I could switch back. Then, on a commercial break when I got up to do something, Zore asks, really excitedly, 'Are you going to bed?!?' I was really caught off-guard and said, 'Do you need to watch something on the tv of something?' They said no, no, no, don't worry, but I felt really bad, like they were just hiding in their rooms waiting for me to go to bed. So a bit later, after midnight, the program ended and I did go to bed. 15 minutes later I heard the doorbell ring and Raquel come over. Then Adrian came home and everyone was talking. Then around 1 I thought I heard someone knock on my door. I said, yeah? but no one was there. Then I got up and no one was at the door, but there were people in Zore's room next door. I asked them if they knocked but they didn't hear me because they were all talking. Then I opened the door a bit and asked louder. I was a little taken aback to be in my pjs, half asleep and to find 2 guys I didn´t know in their room. They all just looked at me like I was crazy and said no so I said goodnight and went back to my room. So because I came out they all started whispering and shut the door of the living room, but I could still hear everything as Adrian went to bed, they opened the door for something, smashed the bag of ice on the counter to break it up, the tv, everything. I was still awake at 2, 3, and 4 AM. I was so angry I started to cry, I didn't want to go out again, because I didn't even know what to say I was so angry and half asleep and furious. I didn't have anyone to call or anywhere to go, because everyone was sleeping or in another country and I felt completly alone and so upset. I guess sometime after 4 I fell asleep until 6:40 when the party was breaking up and people were leaving or going to a bedroom.

Then at 8:20 Thursday morning, my alarm went off and I was still furious. I wanted to make a ton of noise or go in a actually wake them up, but I restrained myself, got ready for work and left. Then I had a horrible day at work because I was in such a bad mood. I talked to Michelle for a bit, but she was really busy and distracted as she was leaving for Portugal that afternoon. So after work I walked home, still fuming and thinking about what I was going to say to them when I got home. When I got there, only Adrian was there and he asked how I was. I couldn't really answer, but he could tell I was upset and said 'What? did the girls keep you up last night?' That was his only mistake. Then I started crying and unloading how upset and unhappy I was with the girls and this house and how horrible they were. He more or less agreed but they weren't there. So we ate lunch together and watched Fama and I talked on the phone to my dad and Victor and then I went to guitar. Guitar went pretty well and then I came home. Then I went running and then came back and waited for Rosa to get home. Then when she did I went in and talked to them. They were pretty defensive and said they weren't making noise, didn't put on music and don't do half the things they would like to here in the hosue because of us anyway. So it was awkward, but I think I handled it pretty well, and it was better I had waited so long to talk to them. Anyway, then Adrian came home and he talked to them too, which didn't go as well but thankfully I had already taken care of my business. I´m still unhappy with the cleaning schedule, but I didn't feel like continuing with the conversation. So they left to go out and I went to bed, at last.

Friday I was still pretty tired but much better. I went to work and translated for the first hour, instead of going to class. Then lots more class. I forgot to mention that last week, Kate, the girl from Nigeria, had asked me to help her with some English/Spanish homework. And by help her she meant give me 3 pages of a Spanish story, and translate it to English for her. Thankfully, Carmina was with me when she asked and helped me get out of it. I told her that I would help her, but I wasn't going to do it for her. So sometime during this week I helped her on a few words she didn't know. Then after work I came home and ran into Nacho at the door, he and the family were eating with Pepa and Emilio. We went up in the elevator together, and he asked if I wanted to come in, I said, 'unnn,,,, no, and you didn't see me ok?' He understood immediatly and I went upstairs, made myself a ceasar salad, watched Fama and after a short hour went to work. Victor had been in the Ukraine for the week and was coming home that day. He woke up at 3:30 and if everything went well would be in Granada around 6 or so. As I was on my way to work, I was going along the main road you take to get to our house from the freeway. All of a sudden I heard this car honk and thought that a car was honking at another car. Then I thought maybe it was honking at me, but I ignored it. Then I thought that it might be Victor, and I turned around and saw his car pulling over and him waving. That was a nice suprise, but it made it harder to go to work. Work went well, and then at home I stopped by Victor's and then I went running, washed my dishes and then Victor came over again. We talked for a while and then he was so exhausted he fell asleep. Then I went out and met Kristen and her dad, Kia, Meghan, Samar and Brad for tapas. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, they were leaving. thankfully, Samar and Brad weren´t going home like everyone else, so we got another tapa. At this place where we were there was a big group of normal looking guys, with 1 guy wearing a blonde wig, a white dress and bunny ears. It could of been a bachelor party, that would have been more normal, but, there was one thing we couldn't understand. Along with this group was a transvestite. What was it doing with them? It was really funny. Then we went to another bar and hung out there with a ton of high schoolers and some of Brad's friends we ran into there. Then we went to this salsa place where we were meeting other friends of Brad's but we were all tired and not really feeling the salsa groove. So we left and walked home. Then I went to bed.

Saturday the 12th was the day Victor and I decided to celebrate our 3 year anniversary, which was Thursday the 10th. So we went to a Hamman, or an Arabic bath. Our appointment was at 12 and we walked up there. It was also really nice because for the first time that week, the sun came out. Although it wasn't really hot, at least it was a beautiful day. We walked up to Plaza Nueva and to the hamman. Inside you change into a swimsuit and put your stuff in a locker. Then inside, its dark and smells good, with relaxing music playing. There are 3 different pools that you go and switch around to. The first one is smaller in size and not very deep and filled with cold water. We started there. Then we went to a larger but shallower pool filled with hot water. Then we went to the third pool which is the biggest and deepest and filled with warm water. Then you just go switching around, and I guess the process is to go from hot to cold, my least favorite but apparently its' good for your circulation and leaves you feeling relaxed. My favorites were the hot and warm pools. Then while you are there bathing, they call your number for a 15 minute massage. It was an amazing morning and we both left feeling completely relaxed and lazy and like gelatin. Then we walked around and went and got a tapa and then went to a new resturant to eat. We had a delicious lunch with a salad, giant meatball and croqueta appetizers and then Victor had a giant chicken kabob and I had a special kind of shrimp with ham in a sherry sauce. It was all amazing and so delicious and then we finished it off with cheesecake for dessert. Then we walked home, completely content. Then Victor went to meet up with some of his friends, and I took almost a 3 hour nap. Then he came back and we watched tv a bit and I took another shower and got ready. Samar had called me and we were going to do somehting that night but we didn't know what. Victor was going to do something with his friends, but mine ended up not going out and he ended up not calling his, so we went out for a walk and shopped around at the Corte Inglés. Then we went home and ate dinner with Pepa and Emilio and watched tv untill I went to bed.

Sunday I woke up and went down to Victor's for breakfast and watched tv. Then I came up and showered and went to church. It was pretty good. Afterwards I came home and ran into Victor who was going out for a drive and he asked if I wanted to come. I said yes, and we went out. We ended up going to this cool place outside of La Zubia a pueblo close by where I used to teach English. It was all of a sudden out in the forest with beautiful mountain views and it was really naturey and nice. We got a tapa out at this resturant that showed up and then came back. Then back at home I thought we were going to eat lunch, but Victor wasn't hungry as he had been snacking on the spaghetti his mom had made for us all morning. Pepa and Emilio had gone down to the beach to visit Raul and their family. So I waited a bit and then ate by myself. Then Victor fell asleep and I blogged the Kaite blog, and then I took a nap. Then after a while we woke up and cleaned up, Victor packed, and went to Nacho and Alicia's. Pepa and Emilio were there too, bringing fruit and stuff from the coast to them and to visit the other grandkids. We all hung out there for a while, Pepa and Emilio left and then Victor and I did. Victor left for Malaga and I talked on the phone to my dad. Then I stopped by Pepa's to get my fruit and ate some more fruit till my sister called me. I talked to her, got the computer and internetted and watched tv till I was tired and went to bed. I was going to clean the house but I didn't feel like it at all. So I chatted with Deanna and took it easy. Then I went to bed.

This morning I slept in and woke up and cleaned the house. Then I started blogging. I haven't gone running , I´m not sure when I will. I have class with the babies and Victor Perez this afternoon and all the regular activites. At least now its sunny.

Katie Kraziness

Monday March 31st, I woke up and did some stuff around the house and then ran to my friend Jenny's house, where we had the potluck Saturday to pick up my roommate's bowl and Pepa's serving tongs. Come to find out, one of the tongs were broken. I knew Pepa wouldn't care, but I was a little terrified nonetheless. So we talked for a while and then I came home. Then I went to the bank to find out why money was being taken out of my account. Then I cleaned. Then my roommates came home. Then I finished cleaning and showerd. Then I ate something for lunch and went to work. It went fine, and then I went to the academy, home, practice guitar and class with Victor Perez. I don't really remember what I did after that, but I think I went to bed early because I was pretty tired.

Tuesday I knew I had a lot to do so I set my alarm early to run and shower before guitar. That turned into snoozing a lot untill I reset my alarm untill 9:30. Then I went to guitar. Then after guitar, I changed to go running, and ran to the bank where I have to cash my checks. Then I came back home, deposited that and then showered. Then by the time that was done, I went downstairs to eat lunch with Pepa and Emilio, Nacho and Alicia and the kids and Raul and Patricia and Adriana. I was working on the stuff for my classes because I hadn´t done anything the day before or that morning and hanging out with all the people. We ate a ton and then I had to rush to work. At work I went to get all the kids, but their parents were there to pick them up and tried to gather them up for class and one mom tells me that her kid isn´t coming any more but not why, even when I asked. Then I finally wrenched half and explanation out of one dad whose child wasn´t going to continue either, who said he didn´t like being lied to, it wasn´t me, and that none of the other kids were going to come either. I had no idea what he was talking about, was about to cry since 4 out of my 6 kids all stopped together, and I figured I was the common thread. So I tried to have class with the two quietest kids left and halfway through saw another mom and talked to her for a bit. Apparently, this is the whole story I have pieced together through various half- baked accounts. Nikki the old teacher had to quit in December because she had to go back to the States to get another visa and didn't know when of if she would be back. Apart from that, Veronica didn't like how she was running things so she hired me. I started in January, and continued through March. Veronica never explained to the parents why a new teacher came. Also a few parents tried to get in contact with Nikki through Veronica and she said she didn't know anything about her. Somehow, Nikki and the parents found eachother. Apparently 3 or 4 weeks into January, Nikki came back and asked for her job back. Veronica said no (I just found this out after the fact, as far as I knew, she was still in the States.) So 3 or 4 parents all decided together to pull their kids out of English at the same time, depriving their own kids of English class, as well as the 1 or 2 that wanted to stay in my class, and me of a job. All in all a great example of a loose-loose situation. I agree with Brian in that the stupid people in the world should not be allowed to get together or reproduce. Anyway, then I finished class and had cancelled my classes with Carlos and Marta because that day Katie was coming!! I called her and tried through text messages to meet up with her. Rushing to get there I finally found her wandering around Calle Recogidas. We headed towards home and dropped off her bags and chatted in the living room for a loooooong time. Then we continued talking constantly as we went and got 3 rounds of tapas at Bar Europa. Then we kept talking and walking around starting our tour of Granada. Then home, rest, and a little bit of Los Serrano, meeting the roommates and bed.

Wednesday morning I woke up early and went running. Then I showered and Katie and I went to work. We started off the morning with a coffee in the cafeteria and the usual catching up with Michelle. Then I had my normal mini class with Fernando and then more talking during recess. Then Katie came with me to class with Rafa and Javier. She is such a good teacher. Waaaay better than me. She was so nice and sweet and beautiful and all my students just loved her and talked to her. I was pretty proud of them because they did a good job, so at least I had taught them something. But I also felt kinda stupid because Katie was such a natural at teaching and talking and all that stuff, I fel bad for my poor students who have been suffering all year with me. So we had a good class and then went to a class with kid students which went pretty well as well. Then we left and walked to El Mirador de San Cristobal, then through the Albayzín, stopping at Plaza Larga, El Mirador de San Nícolas, Plaza de los Carvajales, and down the tetería streets. Then we got a schwarma, mint lemonade and arabic sweets for lunch. Then we passed through Plaza Nueva and headed up cuesta de Gomérez to the Alhambra, we looked all around there at all the free stuff and then went to the Hotel Alhambra Palace, Carmen de los Mártires, which was closed and then down Cuesta de los Chinos, talking the whole way. Then we walked down Paseo de los Tristes, back through Plaza Nueva and then to the Capilla Real, the cathedral, and then to do some serious souvenier shopping at Soufian's shops. Then we enjoyed churros ancd chocolate in Plaza Bibrambla, some more shopping, and headed home first stopping by Corral de Carbón and the Town Hall. Then at home we touched bases with a friend we were making plans with and took an hour and a half nap. The we tried to wake up and get ready and we finally succeeded. Then we took a taxi to meet up with Jenny, Meghan, Kia Eammonn and Fiona for some giant tapas at El Reventaero. We had a good time and convinced Jenny to go out with us that night. So we went to D'Cuadros for a drink and then Emilio's, a bar that serves drinks in these funny pouring bottles you have to pour in your mouth, creating a huge mess. Then after a bit there, Katie Jenny and I headed to Mae West. It was free to get in and ridiculous once we did. Going out in Spain with your georgeous, American, friend who is almost 6 feet tall plus high heels is an amazing experience. We hadn't even ordered our first drink before a group of guys was taking pictures of her. Then caught me giving them a dirty look and that started our first session of getting hit on. Then as soon as we ditched the group of guys from Salamanca, the Hardy boys moved in on Katie. They were 2 friends who would switch off hitting on her and trying to dance with her. My favorite part was when I had to translate for the unluckiest one to whine to Katie, 'You abandonded me.' :( awww it sucks to suck. haha Then we ditched them on our way to a new spot got attacked by crazy, old pistol man. This guy invited us to his house in the mountains for a weekend of skiing, was really annoying and stupid, and kept playing with a toy pistol I don't know why he had. When he made fun of me I decided it was time to move. Then later Eammonn and Fiona met up with us and then Katie saw her opportunity with the the most beautiful man in Spain (after Victor in my opinion.) Apparently I am an excellent wingwoman, and being bilingual helps a lot. So I stopped the three guys and entertained the two friends while Katie got her groove on with the most beautiful man in Spain. We were there for a bit, and went to get more drinks, in the process we lost those guys for a while and found a Frenchman. Then when he went to get another drink, we saw the MBMIS again and went and talked to them. He was being wierd so we gave up and went back to the Frenchman again, who was a loser as well. By now it was 4 or so, we took 1 or 2 more laps around and decided to go home. But the night would not be complete without finishing up with a schwarma which we ordered as we got hit on my some psycho grandpas. Then a taxi ride home, where even the taxi driver tried to hit on my sister. Then, since I didn't think it was a good idea for me to eat 2 schwarmas in 1 day, I made a ham sandwich and we went to bed at 5.

5 hours or less later I was up and on my way to work, Thursday morning. The good part was that I got to go in a little later. We had a meeting and then 2 hours of class, which obviously didn't go so well. hehe Then I met Katie for lunch and we had paella and then home for a big nap. We slept a long time and then obviously had a hard time getting up, but we finally did. Then Katie packed her suitcase, we went and visited Emilio a bit, but Pepa wasn't there. Then we went and bought stamps and earrings, then looked at the view from my roof and headed out for the last tapas. We tapaed and talked and Michelle came and joined us. It was really nice. Then we went home and finished packing and Adrian was there. I asked him if he would take us to the bus station to save us the taxi ride and he agreed. Since we went by car, we got there faster and had a lot of time to kill before her bus left. We talked and saw a ton of other people who were getting on the same bus outta town, including Samar. So then the time came and I had to say goodbye to Katie, but it was an amazing visit. Then I came home with Adrian and went straight to bed.

Friday was also another difficult day at work, since I was still exhausted. So work all day, and Michelle was there so that was fun. Normally she doesn't work on Fridays, so it was nice to have a little distraction and company. Then afterwork I came home and ate something and took a nap. Then I went to the post office, running, rented a movie and came home. Then I cleaned up and Victor finally got there. He worked late, and so he didn't get there untill around 10 or so, we ate dinner and he fell asleep. I was exhausted as well so went to bed too.

Saturday morning I woke up and went running and then to the grocery store. Then I showered and went downstairs for lunch. Raul was there and it was a really good meal. Then after a bit, since it was a really nice day, Victor and I went out for a walk. I bought a sweater at Zara and we continued walking and shopping. For my birthday Victor said he would buy me some new sunglasses, since my old ones I´ve had for 3 years cost 5€ and are a mess by now. So we were shopping for new ones. We actually stumbled upon the perfect glasses, they are Caramelo, a really fancy, expensive, Spanish brand, they were blue and sliver and really cute. They were also the only ones like it and the only ones left, so we decided to get them. Then we continued walking and shopping and came back home. We ate dinner with Pepa and Emilio and then watched Big Fish on tv. For some reason I started bawling at the end, which was particularly embarassing. Then after a bit I went to bed.

Sunday April 6th I woke up and went to church and then came back home and went with Victor to Nacho and Alicia's house to pick up something he needed. Then back home we had paella for lunch. Then we went up and watched the movie I had rented Friday. Then Victor started packing and getting ready to go. He wasn't going to be able to stay late as he was going to the Ukraine very early the next morning. So he left around 6 and I took the movie back and went to meet Michelle, Jenna and Brad who were having their Sunday hippy coffee. We sat in Triunfo and watched hippies playing hackey-sack and chatted till it got too cold to stay and I walked home with Brad. Then at home I started cleaning the house and my room and watching tv and eating a little dinner. There was talk of going out that night, but no one called and I watched a movie on tv, finished cleaning and went to bed.

Back To The Grindstone

So after a really easy week at work and 11 or so wonderful days of leisure filled vacation, I had to go back to work. I don't really remember many details except that it was borring and extremely difficult to go back and that I was exhausted the whole week and every morning snoozed way too long before actually getting up. Monday morning was spent trying to go running after taking a whole week off and cleaning the house. As usual I had a lot of things I wanted to get done, but all I did was run and clean and get ready to go to work. Then after lunch I went to work and the Academy then had a little bit of time to practice guitar and then another class with Victor Perez, probably home, tv and bed.

Tuesday 25 March I slept in till the last minute to go to guitar, went, came back and ran and showerd. Then I went to Pepa´s and asked her how to make lentils and she told me and I went up and made them. they turned out pretty good and I was so proud of myself for cooking a real meal. I also had a craving for chicken ceaser salad and looked up a recipie for that on the internet. So that was my project for the morning till work in the afternoon with the kids. I talked to my dad a bit who could hear the complete chaos in the background. It went really long because all the parents were talking instead of picking up their kids, and then I had to talk to 2 of them because their sons are horrible. Then I rushed totally late to work with Carlos and Marta finished went home ate dinner, tv and crashed.

Wednesday I went to work and talked a lot with Michelle about our spring breaks and life. Things were pretty much the same except Jose Antonio came back from his 3 month trip to Africa and he rejoined out class which was also filled with the student teachers again. On the way home I went to all the stores and bought my sister a special birthday present. Then I came home and made my delicious chicken ceaser salad which was absolutely amazing and rested and watched Fama. Then I walked to the post office and mailed my sissy's package and from there went on my run. All my afternoon classes had cancelled on me so after my run I practiced guitar and then went to Nacho and Alicia's for class and dinner. That night we were having schwarmas, which I was really excited about. We stuffed ourselves of these giant schwarmas and french fries, but it was ok because I had only had salad that day for lunch and it was only my 4th schwarma since I have been back here in Granada. Then we watched Sin Tetas but Marina got sick and so Nacho took me home in the middle and I finished it at home. Then I went to bed.

Thursday I went to work and all was the same, except for this one girl Kate, who is from Nigeria asked me for my phone number. There are 2 Nigerian girls at my school, they both speak English, and their own language but little Spanish. So Kate asked me for help with some English/Spanish translating. The sad thing about these girls, and a lot of the immigrants in our school is that no one really knows what their past is. They don´t want to talk about their families. They even suspect they might have been rescued from a prostitution ring. So yeah, I was a little caught off guard and didn't give her my phone number but said I would be willing to help her at school, I was here Wednesday through Thursday. Then I went home and made another salad for lunch, went to guitar and then went running. After running I met up with my friend Jenny and had tapas, and then another schwarma! We hung out and talked for a long time. We have similar situations in several areas of life and around 12 I went home and went to bed.

Friday I woke up and went to work which I was so tired for. Then finally when it was over, I came home and ate something for lunch, watched Fama and then took a 2 hour nap. All my Friday classes had cancelled on me as well. So after my nap I went for my run, showered, cleaned up and got ready for Victor to come. He got off work later so he didn´t get here till much later. As usual he was exhausted and fell asleep after dinner with his parents. Since I was all dressed up with no place to go, I called Michelle to see what they all were doing. That Friday was la Fiesta de la Primavera, the Spring Party. To celebrate the arrival of Spring, someone organized a Macro Botellón. A botellón, big bottle, is when instead of going to a bar and paying for individual drinks, you buy bottles of your favorite drinks to mix and enjoy in the street with your friends. Before you could have a botellón anywhere in the city, but now its restricted to the open lot next to Hipercor, a big department store on the more outskirts of the city. So for the Macro Botellón, it started around 12 noon and included 17,000 people. I wasn't aware that it started so early, and got there around 12 midnight. Victor dropped me off and it took me a while to find Michelle and the group among 17,000 or so. I finally did and they were with Jenna's friend Emilio and his friends. It was a huge disgusting filth fest. The ground was covered with trash and slime from 12 hours of drinking and eating sunflower seeds and making due without any bathrooms. All in all and excellent time was had by all. We were there till around 4:30 or 5 and I finally went home. It was a long walk, and there were no taxis in sight. On the way home I almost got attacked by a black guy who was too drunk to catch up to me at a light jog and a Moroccan guy in a car. It was freaky but nothing serious. More serious was how bad I had to pee. At least nobody stole my boots, which is what happened to Michelle on her walk home. Then I finally made it home, peed and went to bed.

Saturday morning I slept in, obviously. I think I pretty much slept in so much that all I did was wake up, shower and go downstairs for lunch. Then after lunch we hung out for a bit resting and napping till I went to the grocery store. I bought stuff for a potluck that night where I decided to make a larger version of my fabulous chicken ceasar salad. So I talked on the phone to my mom for a bit, then went to work creating my salad work of art. It was delicious and huge. The Victor come upstaris and we had an important conversation. Then we went to the potluck and Jenny´s house. It was really fun, there were a lot of other Auxiliares there, Emilio's friends from Almería, and it was just really fun. We missed most of the good food because we got there late, but we got a full dose of drama, matchmaking and manipulation. We were there till 2 or so untill Jenny's roommate came home and got really angry when she wanted to sleep. Everyone loved my salad and it completely dissapeared. Then I left my dishes there and we went to Metro, a club near my hosue that is really good. We were there for a long time and then home and bed around 4 or 5. It was a really, really, fun, amazing night.

Sunday morning I woke up around 11 or so and stumbled around the house trying to wake up. I ate some breakfast and watched The Simpsons, which I was excited about because they were showing an extra hour of episodes, starting at 1. I had already seen it so I decided to shower instead of watching it. As I got out of the shower, Victor gave me a toque (ring once and hang up), which is usualy the signal to come down to eat. I thought that was wierd as it was 1:30 and Spanish people don´t eat before 2. So I continued getting ready. About 10 or 15 minutes later, the doorbell rang. To my suprise it was Victor saying it was time to eat. I was completely confused and asked why we were eating so early. He told me it was Daylight Savings and that it was actually almost 3 instead of almost 2. I knew about it, had known for about 2 weeks, and had completely forgotten. So I finished getting ready and went downstairs, where everyone had already started eating without me! I was pretty embarassed, but no one really cared. Then we did the typical Sunday routine of eating, nap, packing the suitcase and dinner at Nacho and Alicia's, and then Victor left, from what I remember. I was going to clean but didn't and watched TV until I went to bed fairly early as I was exhausted.