the big kahuna of a blog post!

Well, here we are once again. And once again, I have put off writing so my entry will be astronomically long. This will be the longest one yet! You see, I have to be in the perfect mood to write. I have to be alone, I have to be in the right mood, not be too tired, my creative juices need to be flowing. I don't want to give you an itinerary of what I do, I want to paint a vivid picture  of my life here for you. And even if I don't capture everything, I have at least captured something, and something is usually good enough. But I can only do this when I'm in the mood, which is why my entries keep getting longer and longer. Please, enjoy, but only read if you so desire! Don't be bored with my rambling!

 I want to start out with a cool fun fact that I learned upon my first hour in Spain that I have completely forgotten to relate until now. When I first met Eli, one of our API Resident Directors, she greeted me with a kiss on each cheek as is common with most Spaniards. She asked my name to clarify which students she was picking up and when she heard, “MacKenzie Tanguay,” her face lit up as she giddily exclaimed, “aaahhhhh so you're MacKenzie Tanguay!!” I wasn't sure about the overly excited response until she explained to me that immediately upon seeing my name on the roster, her and Pablo (our other resident director, who I will explain a bit more about later) were so excited because my apellido (surname, last name, etc) has a totally awesome meaning in Spanish. She explained to me that “tan” means “so,” which I knew, and “guay” means “cool,” which I also knew but was under the impression that that word isn't used in Spanish really. However, in Spain, it must be, because Eli then christened me “MacKenzie So Cool.” So there you go, Tanguays, our last name means So Cool in Spanish! I mean naturally, right? Tan guay! =)

 I feel that I hit a little of the homesickness bug in the past week. This came on with the recent move in of all my Bellingham friends and the start up of WWU today, skyping with my Mom on Saturday, and just generally becoming aware that I have been here for 4 weeks (today!) and I still have a long time to go. However, all is well! What would an experience abroad be without a bit of homesickness, right? I have just been staying busy, doing homework (which there honestly isn't much of), writing, being with my friends, and chatting with my host family whenever I feel down. But things have been consistently busy (but at the same time not, it's interesting how this Spanish lifestyle is) so I have much to write about!

Last Wednesday we had our API excursion to the Alhambra, Granada's, and maybe even Spain's, most famous landmark. La Alhambra is an old Moorish palace no more than a 40 minute walk from my house (I can see it from my bedroom window if I lean out far enough!). I would love to tell more about the history, but although I participated in a guided tour with the rest of my program, it was in half Spanish and English, and I was much more interested in capturing it's beauty with my camera than in listening to it's history. Plus, I have my Spain guidebook, and I can always look in there if I really care that much about it. Basically, this building, or series of buildings, and the gardens surrounding it, are the most unique and among the most beautiful pieces of architecture I've ever seen. It was here that I really came to appreciate my Nikon, which I am so thankful I bought last summer. It really does capture images so much better than a typical digital. I could've been there for hours, I could've taken thousands more pictures of the exact same things just to find a more beautiful shot. And here, as I wandered through this ancient palace taking shot after shot, angle after angle, pondering about the history and the life that once inhabited the Alhambra years ago, is where I began to discover that maybe, just maybe, I don't know exactly what I want to do with my life. Up until I arrived here, I felt that everything had to be so structured, both because of my organized nature and because of the money sucking university world we live in that forces us to choose the career path we think we want at such a young age. I once thought I would just automatically be a teacher because it's typical and because I get summers off and because it's the best family oriented profession. But maybe, just maybe, what I want to do with my life is walk around places like the Alhambra and capture those images and then turn around and write about them. Maybe. Here in Spain my priorities have changed so much, I don't have a plan for anything but what I'm doing tonight and maybe some random specifics in the next month. But as for years? Who knows? I want to maybe join the Peace Corps, the FBI? Travel, speak Spanish, learn, research, write, LIVE the life that I have been so graciously granted. See what Spain is doing to me? 

Well, that was certainly a tangent. Back to the Alhambra experience. At the conclusion of our tour, (which I loved because I got to spend time with the people in my program, most of whom I don't get to see on a daily basis. This is both a good and bad thing, because I don't want to be milling about with 20  Americans all the time, but at the same time they are great and I love seeing all of them!) it began to rain. And when I say rain, think Bellingham during February. Think Seattle. Think Arlington. Combined. And it was strange, because when we had finished our tour we sort of relaxed for about 20 minutes and watched the ominous rain clouds coming towards us, as if we couldn't recall that we had a 40 minute walk ahead of us. So finally we trekked home, and the good Western Washington citizen that I am, I of course had my black North Face rain jacket in my backpack, because someone had told me it might rain that day. So while everyone else got soaked to the skin in the tank tops and jeans, I was dry, except for my jeans, those were soaked just like everyone else's. And some people were complaining (granted, they didn't have a rain jacket) but I was just thinking, come on! It's rain, you won't melt! I was almost laughing at the absurdity of it, of the previous beauty and sunshine of the day that was so rudely interrupted by a torrential downpour. It was a beautiful taste of the Northwest, if you ask me. We finally made it home, and I was soaked but oh, so happy. 

Transition: School is interesting here. Let me just tell you a little about a typical day in the life of MacKenzie. My alarm goes off Monday-Friday at 7:55 am (though I just switched it to 8 as I'm getting my routine down quicker). I usually curse the world for waking me, especially if we disco-ed it up the night before and I didn't get to bed till 4. I lumber out of bed, brush my teeth, wash my face, put my contacts in, attempt to do something constructive with my hair which is usually unsuccessful because straightening it takes too long and we can't take showers in the morning. I get dressed, make my bed (surprising I know!), eat my breakfast (2 slices of bread and margarine, and a small lemon muffin that I have eaten so often that I am immune to the lemon taste so it's ok) and leave my house at 8:30. Class is supposed to start at nine, but usually begins around 9:05 or 9:10, because hey, it's España! You just gotta roll with it. I am in the Intermediate B level, and I will move up to the Advanced A level in about a week and a half (next Friday). I have two teachers, Ana and Emelia. Ana is first, and I don't like her as much as Emelia. Professors here are much more animated than the majority of college professors in the states, its almost like they're acting because they're personalities are so vibrant and exaggerated. Ana has the most revealing facial expressions; when she is excited about something, you know, and you also know when she thinks you're an idiot. Every Monday she asks us what we did that weekend, and every day she asks us what we did last night. The majority of our class with Ana is talking, and we reviewed all the past tense verbs with her, watched a movie, did some brief cultural lessons, and we're now beginning to work on conditional verbs. We have a break from 10:50 or 11 to about 11:20, and then class with Amelia commences. Amelia is my favorite Spaniard, and one of my favorite people, in the world. She weighs no more than 80 pounds, dresses to the nines every day, has a short pixie gray haircut and is one of the most hysterical people I have ever met. Her favorite thing to say is “BIENNNNNNNNNN” and she says it to everyone, all the time, practically yells it and will drag it out for 10 seconds sometimes. She is much more encouraging than Ana, and seems more interested in our personal lives than Ana. I feel way more confident speaking in Emelia's class, and it goes by much faster and is really fun. With Emelia, we have learned Future tense verbs, when to use que (what), quien (who), and cual (what/which/who), and we're beginning with subjunctive with her. 

Now when I saw school here is interesting, I am directly referring to one instance that occurred in Emelia's class about a week ago. I have no clue how we arrived on the subject, but all of a sudden Emelia was ferociously scribbling on the board and we were learning the difference between the words “joder” and “follar.” Now, excuse my French, family or anyone who is sensitive to swearing, but I have to describe this story completely accurately and I could not do so without being both explicit and vulgar in my language. Essentially, both of these words mean “to fuck.” Emilia explained to us that “joder” is mostly used to express happiness, worry, admiration, or hate, and when you say “jódete” you're saying “fuck you” in what Emilia dubbed a “lighthearted way.” She explained that an accurate usage of “joder” would be “Joder, what a cute dress you're wearing!” Interesante, no? And then she proceeded to explain that “follar” means the same thing but in a sexual context. She said that “Jódete” isn't really that offensive but wrote this on the board: “Que te folle un pez espada!” as an example of an offensive statement. I was slightly confused with the conjugation of the verb and the vocabulary, so I asked what it meant. My tiny, adorable teacher beams and in brilliantly accurate English, says, “Get fucked by a swordfish!” School here is interesting. Enough said! =)

 Anyways, we finish school at 1 everyday, I walk home, eat lunch with Courtney and lately, my host family too, then take a 1-2 hour siesta, shower, and play with baby David. I am starting to like him more, except when his family is bugging him. The child clearly doesn't like to be held so I wish they would just leave him alone because he's such a happy baby when they're not touching him! Our host parents grow on us more and more every day. PePe talks about tapas more than anything else, and he's always suggesting tapas bars for us to go to. He continues to ask if we have found Spanish boyfriends, which Courtney sort of has one? Funny story. So I don't know if I have written about this before, but in the first week here, my friend Shannon invited us over to her house because there was a guapo boy repairing their shower. We talked to him, and chickened out in getting his number. Later, Shannon gave him her number, and he has without fail, called her every day since, and he lets the phone ring for approximately two seconds then hangs up. Shannon finally got to the phone recently, and Courtney talked to Tomas. He gets her number. They start texting, and we're sitting on the internet when Courtney hands me her phone. I read a text that one, was spelled terribly (in Spanish) and two, said, Oh, I don't have a girlfriend. Would you like to be my girlfriend? We laughed for 5 minutes without stopping. Is this kid for real? Courtney has talked to him once, three weeks ago probably and he's asking her to be his girlfriend! We showed Marí Carmen and she thought it was quite funny but said Courtney should probably be his friend before being his girlfriend. I love our host mom. 

PePe talks slower for us, and I can usually always understand him. Marí Carmen, however, does not talk slow at all. In addition, she has the most significant Southern Spain accent of any Spaniard with whom I converse with on a regular basis. Andalucia is famous for their accent being completely impossible to understand, because it's like they don't finish their words, and they leave out letters in the middle. Most Spanish speaking people clearly say, “Hasta luego!” when they part. Marí Carmen always hollers, “Haaa lueo!” to us as we walk out the door. The first time we had dinner with them, she walked up to the table and said, “Quemapa?” My mind felt like a turtle, or like a blob of jam, as I'm thinking, “quemapa, quemapa, quemapa, WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT MEAN!?” and then as she began to say it more, we realized she was saying, “Quieres más pan?” (Do you want more bread?) I mean, even if you don't speak Spanish, I am typing it exactly how it is supposed to be said, and exactly how she says it. Andalucians are so hard to understand!!

 So our most favorite tapa restaurant is a Chinese bar called Feng Shui, I'm sure I've mentioned it prior to now. Tinto del Verano is 1.80 euros and 1.90 with a tapa of your choice, and the tapas are delicious. We go there at least 3 times a week and have since our first week in Granada. Part of the reason we go is because we enjoy the people who work there. Originally, there was Pink Polo (who always, every single day, wears a Pink Polo), Graphic Tee (who always, every single day, wears a graphic tee-though he wears different ones each day), and the Boss (who never does or says anything, and has gray hair and a red shirt and is always smoking a cigarette and leaning against the wall). They are all Chinese, and Pink Polo and Graphic Tee are very short (I once accidentally elbowed him in the head because he walked by me and I didn't know he was there and I was telling a story with my hands like I always do). We love how they say “tapaaa” in their Spanish language but Chinese accents, and we love how Pink Polo can divide our bill exactly just by looking at it and without using a calculator. Recently, we asked Pink Polo what his name is, and it's Linche. See, this is how we start to feel like we belong in Granada! Anyways, PePe and all of his tapa recommendations led us to tell him our most favorite tapa place. He always says, “no me gusta el chino, no me gusta el chino.” (I don't like....chinese?) And we always assumed he meant the food but then a few days ago he was telling us that at Chinese restaurants they cook actual people, and Marí Carmen said he's crazy and just laughed about it like she does with everything else. But then we started to think, well maybe PePe doesn't like actual Chinese people? So today, when he said that again, I asked him, in Spanish of course, “So, do you not like Chinese food, or Chinese people?” And.........PePe doesn't like Chinese people. Or Chinese food. Awkward! But it was just so humorous how he says it every single time we talk about going to Feng Shui!

Moving on. Last Friday, there was a party at a discoteca called Camporio, which is in the Sacromonte neighborhood (the old Moorish neighborhood) of Granada. The party was specifically geared towards international students, and we heard the disco was beautiful so we decided to go. It really was the coolest club I've ever been to. There are two floors, and outside steps between the two with an outdoor terrace. The terrace and the top floor both look across the river with an absolutely stunning view of the Alhambra at night. We walked across town and finally found the place, and the cover charge was 6 euros with a drink. This is the first time I've paid to get into a discoteca since being in Spain, Courtney and I (and by Courtney and I, I pretty much mean Courtney) usually work the people to let us in for free, or we go to specifically free events. There were a ton of people and the music was perfect, a good mix between Spanish pop and tons of American dance songs. We got our first drink and danced and danced and danced, and after awhile I wanted a second drink. I made the mistake of asking for a rum and coke and not asking how much it was. After it was already poured, the bartender told me it was 6 euros and kind of shrugged at me as my jaw dropped to the floor. 6 euros is like $8!! For a drink! I mean, I guess it was a learning experience, I won't be buying drinks at a discoteca anymore! But it was still really annoying and frustrating because what a waste of money. After that I was tired and my feet hurt but my friends were having a blast so I kinda chilled. At about 3 am, I was dancing with Courtney, and two of the people in our program, Megan and Tony. We were just doing our thing, moving to the music and laughing with each other, when this random guy reaches across Megan and shoves Tony. We all stopped dancing and just looked at the guy in utter confusion, as Tony did absolutely nothing to deserve this. Now, I have to explain that Tony is seriously one of the nicest people I have ever met. He is this great kid from Massachusetts and he is so genuine, and so friendly all the time. He is also very Italian, short, athletic, and very attractive. When the guy looked at him and tried to go towards him again, Megan stepped in front of the jerk to tell him to stop, I grabbed Tony's arm and pulled him to the other side of me, and Courtney stood between the two sides looking dumbfounded and completely confused at what was going on, as this whole situation was entirely unwarranted. Our efforts did nothing, as the guy swung past Megan, nearly hitting her in the face. I heard a glass break (which I later learned was Tony's that he threw to prepare to defend himself) and that's when I lost my protective instinct and decided it was probably best if I get outta there. I booked it through the people so I wasn't in the midst of the chaos and Courtney followed me. We turned as people were diving in to help and a Spanish guy asked us if we were okay and we were honestly so shocked we could hardly come up with the Spanish words to explain what the hell had just happened. The “almost fight” was broken up and we went back to Tony, who told us the guy punched him in the face but he didn't fight back. It was so bizarre! I have never experienced anything like it, because Tony wasn't doing anything, he was just with us having a good time! He decided to leave because he didn't want something worse to happen, and we were all kind of bummed out by the whole situation and so pissed at that jerk of a guy. So, honestly, Camporio, for me, wasn't the party it was supposed to be and was more of a lost night. 

Saturday night, however, was amazing. API suggested that we go to a free concert outside of Granada, a fairly famous flamenco-chill singer Chambao. She has just recently recovered from cancer and this concert was sort of a break out concert after her sickness. I didn't really know anything about her but we spent like 5 or 6 hours at this place where there was a bunch of live music, food, and a flea market type thing where I got henna done on my foot. Her concert started around 11:45 or midnight (strange, I know) and went till about 2. I was exhausted but we were so close on the floor and it was a great concert! I love her music! I just couldn't believe it was free, it was such a steal, like a legit concert and everyone knew the words so I know she must be famous! It was nice to go out and do something here in Spain that didn't revolve around drinking, and overall it was just a really good night. I am hoping for more experiences like that in the near future!

I am going to finish with saying that tomorrow is kind of a big day, the remainder of the fall API group is arriving tomorrow. There are about 30 of them, and it's going to be pretty strange to have them around when our group has such a tight bond and we feel really established in Granada. Also, I am bummed because Pablo, our other resident director, got fired. For good reasoning, but I loved Pablo! He was my favorite resident director. The weekend we went on our San Jose Beach Trip, Pablo was supposed to come with us but he didn't show up because he was so hungover from the Zaidin Music Festival the night before. Pretty irresponsible. But I'm still so sad because he was so much fun. Now, Eli's sister is the new RD and I haven't met her yet but I probably will tomorrow or Friday. 

Alright I'm done! Sorry this has been so long, I will try to write more frequently in the future so that reading my blog isn't such a task. But again, I probably will continue to do this because I only have the time and energy to write once in awhile. Miss you all and love you more! MacKenzie

No Wonder Elmer Fudd Wanted to Kill Bugs Bunny (my anecdote)

Courtney and I are sitting at the dinner table, starved as usual after waiting for our royal family to commence their own dining at lunchtime. I haven't eaten since 9 this morning and it's 3 pm, and the empty carbs of my bread and margarine breakfast have long since worn off. I am completely ravenous for nourishment. Set in front of us is a bowl of the most savory, delicious looking meat, a plate of fried potatoes, a basket of bread, and half a small watermelon. Excellent. Time to dine.

Upon eating a bite of the saucy meat, which is rich and tastes sort of like prime rib meets BBQ chicken wings (in a good way) we wonder what kind it is. To me, it just tastes beefy, so obviously it's just beef! Courtney isn't so convinced. And really, I shouldn't have been so certain either because no beef has bones so small that when you take an average sized bite you have to fish out the bones from your mouth so you don't choke on them. We ponder what it could be, and honestly, it's delicious, so I really don't want to know. My mind wanders back to sophomore year when I ate a traditional Filipino meal at Blythe Conde's 16th birthday party, and I later found out that I had consumed an entree well known for being cooked in pig's blood. I love food. I would rather just be oblivious to what cute barnyard delicacy I'm munching on and not think about the short, aimless life they led before their inevitable end at the chopping block. 

However, Courtney, aka Curious George, could not withhold the urge to discover, unfortunately. “¿Marí Carmen, que tipo de carne es esto?” (Marí Carmen, what type of meat is this?) “Ah, conejo. Es muy rico, ¿no? Mi hijo lo compró en el campo, estuve muy caro.” (Ah......It's delicious, right? My son bought it in the country and it was really expensive.) We missed the whole animal thing because it was unfamiliar word to us. As we ask Marí Carmen what a “conejo” is, she explains, “es pequeño, como un perro, ¡como un perrito!” My stomach drops. (It's small, like a dog, like a puppy!) Oh shit. Where are we, Thailand? And she starts making hand gestures by putting her hands in cups over her head like ears, while I am frantically trying to think of what animal this culture would consider “like” a dog, that is in fact edible as well. 

Slightly terrified, I stand up and walk into my room to obtain the answer to my worst fears. I grab my small, green, Merriam Webster's Pocket Spanish-English Dictionary and flip the book from back to front, eyeing the right hand corner, I skim through, “raddle,” “ivy,” “tostar,” “pómulo,” “despiadado,” and finally to the page I need. I find what I'm looking for and my stomach flops with queasiness while my lungs simultaneously let out a small sigh of relief. Rabbit. 

I tell Courtney the news and she isn't phased. She continues to put down that carne like there's no tomorrow. I settle with the potatoes, bread, and watermelon for the remainder of my meal, while Courtney chuckles and makes bad bunny jokes, and I recall my mom's stories of her childhood on the rabbit farm that used to sell the bunnies to the “rabbit man.” Well, now I know where the rabbits go when they go to the rabbit man...

Towards the end of lunch, Courtney goes, “mmmm, well now I know why Elmer Fudd wanted to kill Bugs Bunny so bad!” 

Hey, it's been awhile!

So, sorry everybody for the lack of storytelling. I have been meaning continually to get on the dang computer and write, but when I do I usually get caught up on facebook and email and trying to figure out random stuff about being here. But here I am, finally! I recently Video I-chatted w/ Patty, which was so great to see and talk to her!

Things have been quite eventful. Basically, life in Granada has been fairly routine, there are a few things though that I want to make sure I cover.
1. My food experience, which I may just post a 2nd blog for as I sort of wrote a short little anecdote of it already.
2. My weekend trip to San Jose
3. The baby that basically lives with us
4. The Spanish movie that I went to see
5. Zaidin festival
Alright, here goes...

So, we have a baby pretty much living with us. Marí Carmen takes care of her grandson, David, who is 13 months old, Monday thru Friday, from like 7 am-7 pm. You see what I mean? And since lunch is the big meal here as opposed to dinner, David's mom and dad come to the house for lunch every single day of the week to eat with her parents (my host parents). Are you following me? Good. So we have an absolutely adorable little child living with us that pretty much only says, "Hola, guapa!!" Which is exactly what the Spaniard men cat call to us on the street when we walk around. No wonder these Spanish guys are out to get some, they're trained from birth, as we are witnessing! This baby is Marí Carmen and Pepe's pride and joy. He can do no wrong. He screams when he is held, when he is fed, when he is told not to do something. Awesome. Every day, without fail, my nap is woken up around 6:30 pm by little David screeching at the prospect of eating. It's alright, I love babies and I play with him sometimes, but it just gets a little old, especially when we didn't know a baby was going to be there at all. And we figured we would be free on the weekends, but Sunday night when we returned from our beach excursion, who was there? The child and his mom. They know no separation of familial ties here! Ha, but I suppose it's alright. It is España, after all. However, one strange thing here. I like to do my homework in my room with the door open so that I can hear the banter of my host family chatting in a sorry attempt to understand their Andalucian accents. Little David the baby always crawls into my room, "hola, hola, guapa...." and his mom always pulls him out of my room and shuts the door with an apologetic look on her face. I'm really not sure if she thinks he's bothering me or if she doesn't want him in my room period. Either way, it's strange, because obviously I don't mind the baby if it's not screaming, which it usually isn't if you're not touching it haha! Cultural difference, I guess.

OK, moving on. Last week we were given the option to see a Spanish movie with API. I figured I would go because it's part of what I paid for and a good experience to learn to comprehend Spanish better. We went to see the movie "Agallas," and I have honestly not been more horrified at a film in my life. It was about drug trafficking in Galicia, which is a region in northern Spain. I understood the gist of it, but they spoke SO fast. It was so hard to understand the actual words and the only words I could honestly pick out were "joder, mierda," etc. (Look them up if you must) I was really surprised by the graphic images of sex, violence, etc. In comparison to the US I felt like there was no censor. Which, also makes me think of the news here, which is actually REAL news. It's not the crap MSN, CNN, FOX, ABC, NBC, etc. that we watch in the US that is just full of people bullshitting with each other and arguing about stuff we as viewers don't even have proof actually existed. The news here is oftentimes real footage, that is graphic and honest, be it violent, sexual, whatever. For news, I like it here better, because it's not a bunch of crap, it's what is really going on and you're not deceived by all kinds of pretty people debating with each other. ANYWAYS, back to the film. I just felt it was shockingly graphic, not to mention I wasn't really into the content. It was a good experience though, and I'm definitely going to continue to go to our Spanish movies every month because one, it's my only opportunity to eat popcorn, two, it's free, and three, it helps me learn my Spanish.

Last Friday a few friends and I made quite a hike across town to the Zaidin neighborhood for a free concert that our resident director Pablo told us about. What we encountered was a huge carnival/festival with rides, music, food, flea market, and tons of people! It was like the Puyallup Fair! Ha just kidding, the rides were mostly kiddy rides and sort of lame but the vibe was the same, except better because there weren't creepy carnies and the Spanish vibe to anything is always better! We moseyed around a bit and made our way over to the concert, which was rock music that I couldn't understand (even though they were British). It was loud and fun and I am not really into that type of music but the tunes fit the vibe of the locale, so it was fun. The hike back home was really long but I enjoyed chatting with people. I am loving the people in my program, there's only 18 or 19 of us total, so we've gotten to know each other pretty well.

The next morning (Saturday, the 12 of September) we left for San Jose with the entire program. After a 3 hour bus ride we finally made it to our oasis, heaven on earth. (Refer to facebook for pictures, if you don't have one, get one.) We stopped at a supermarket to grab water, snacks, etc, and walked 30 minutes to a HUGE, secluded, beautiful beach called La Playa de Genoses. This particular beach happened to be nude. I saw many body parts that I would have preferred not to see, but to each their own I suppose! Laying out in the sand and swimming in the Mediterranean with the sun blazing down on me, I was in heaven. For me, that is the ultimate vacation. I don't like to bother with museums and tours and fees, I just like to be one with the sand and the sea and the sky. That's all it takes. Eli, our other resident director brought her mom with her and we had fun on the beach just talking in Spanish. It was kind of interesting, we started discussing health care in Europe and the United States and it was really interesting hearing their perspective and us giving our opinions. This was all in Spanish, keep in mind! After 4 or 5 hours of ultimate relaxation, we made the hike back to the town, and showered and went out to dinner at a delicious Italian pizza place. Following dinner, the entire group went out to the beach again. Now, I have never been to the beach at night until then, I realized right away. What a shame! How romantic and relaxing and exciting and everything else wonderful, right? I will live near a beach someday. (The Puget Sound doesn't exactly count, unless all the rocks miraculously turn to sand). We all sat and drank and laughed and played "Never have I ever" (learning some interesting things about people, might I add), and I just looked around and realized how much I love this, how much I love being here, and how it is so crazy that I was afraid of not meeting people and making friends. The group of us are all SO unique, but we have in common the fact that we're here, and I love it, because it's what really brings us together. It will be so strange when the rest of our group arrives in a few weeks. Anyways, eventually, a few people left, and I suggested the best idea ever: skinny dipping. Now, I have skinny dipped once in my life prior to this, on an unbearably hot evening in Bellingham when 5 of us decided to sprint into Lake Padden in the nude. It was completely exhilarating. I was not about to pass up the experience of doing the same thing in the Mediterranean Sea, with awesome people and a bit of sangria in my system. Upon the presentation of the idea, some people were skeptical, others were all for it, as we saw quickly when Tony promptly stripped and sprinted into the water. Michelle followed suit quickly, as did Sam. Eventually we were all in the water, cracking up at how our actions in the US would be completely taboo but here in San Jose, at 11 pm at night, with probably 10 other people on the same beach, our actions were completely normal and probably not worth such an excessive amount of laughter. Eventually the chilliness took it's toll and we all lumbered out, not really caring that we were all naked and standing on a beach laughing and shivering. We got dressed, some went home, and I went out with people and bar hopped and danced the night away. :) Cliche, I know! The next day was essentially another beach day, but this one much cooler and completed with an intense game of futbol (soccer) in the sand where we all discovered just how out of shape we are but it was still a blast. I love soccer so much, I wish I was better at it though! We left the beach and were all out on the bus, totally exhausted from the weekend and ready to head back to home, Granada. Upon arriving the weather was freezing. (I'm sure it was like 65 or 70 degrees fahrenheit, but hey it felt dang cold!)

Since then the weather hasn't really been hot anymore, I've worn jeans all week to school, and sweats after class. Feels like home? There was a downpour for maybe a half hour today, it was kinda nice because it felt like home. I still love it here. I don't think it'll ever stop. We're in the process of trying to organize trips to Morocco, Barcelona, Portugal, and Belgium. We can fit it all in! I am making the most of my time here, I want to do so much, it's tough to fit it all in. Oh! Last thing, I discovered a bar right next to my apartment that has free WIFI if you buy a drink, for as long as you want, which is so much of a better deal than the dang internet cafe because you get a drink, a tapa, and internet! I love Spain. Anyways, much love from me to you, hope the US is treating you well. I heard about Obama's bomb speech, Kanye's Taylor Swift intervention, and Patrick Swayze's death. Guess what, I'm still glad to be here! :) haha. OK. hasta luego!
MacKenzie

"Chicas......comida!!"

So, I´m pretty sure that Marí Carmen and Pepí have no clue what our names are. It´s all good though because I just love hearing Pepí sing to us, "Chicas....comida!" when it´s time to eat. More recently we have been eating lunch with them and Pepí is very adament that we both find a Spanish boyfriend with lots of dinero (money) and he is also very encouraging of going to fiestas todas las noches (partying every night).

The lifestyle here is SO different. I´m not even kidding. Seriously, students and even regular adults party ALL NIGHT LONG. But the partying is different than the US. Nobody is getting wasted, (well people are but it´s pretty rare), it´s simply going out, staying out late, drinking a little, meeting people and talking and taking pictures and having a good time, flirting it up! The hours of everything are totally different. For me, breakfast is at 8 am before school, lunch is at 2 pm after we come home from school, and dinner is between 8 pm and 9 pm. Siesta occurs between 2 and 5 pm usually. Everything closes down except for major stores, but most restaurants and shops shut down for a few hours mid day. And that, I suppose is when everyone gets the remainder of their sleep from being out the night before! I´m not a very good napper, so I have kind of just been losing sleep because of the late night habits and my inability to nap. I will get used to it one way or another though.

Hhhmmm...let´s see...I´ve had my first two days of school now, and I love it so much. I feel kind of unchallenged because I placed into high intermediate for this month. However it´s only the first few days and I´m sure things will pick up. Plus, it will be nice to have it somewhat easy at the beginning and the opportunity for a little review. I love my teachers, they are so much more animated than college professors back home. I have 9 people in my class (I kid you not. NINE.) This makes it so much easier and it feels so natural to participate because ít´s having a conversation instead of a lecture or discussion group. School is a half hour walk from home, so that´s an hour of walking around just with going to and from school. We walk EVERYWHERE we go. It is the sole reason I have not gained weight. Literally I haven´t even used public transit since being here. And honestly I love it! I will miss the Green Machine which has now been handed over to Jordan, and I will miss cruising around Bellingham but there is something about wandering aimlessly around Granada and getting lost in the maze of streets that is so adventurous and almost magical. (except for when it´s at 2 or 3 in the morning and you really just want to go home and go to bed and you think that the streets must be set up in square blocks because that´s how most cities are but then you find out you are very very wrong, haha. This has happened to Courtney and I twice already and we´ve only been here a week.)

The weather here is so dang hot. It´s pretty cool in the morning but it´s been in the 90´s I´m sure every day, not completely positive because I can´t read celsius but it´s SO HOT. We have air conditioning in our apartment but it is only turned on when Pepí is home and he turns it on. Patriarchal society, interesting, no? Because of all the walking and the heat, Shannon, Courtney and I have reasonably justified our consumption of helado (ice cream) every single day we´ve been here. However, today we have not had it yet! Amazing! I am pretty sure I´ve maintained and possibly even lost weight. The food here is getting pretty good, it´s almost like Marí Carmen didn´t want us to have too high of expectations so she started out alright and has been cooking way better food lately. We eat ham, paella (a Spanish rice dish), we had beef today, lots of bread still, lots of fruit, etc. Love it!

Last night we participated in "el botellon", an event that takes place late at night in a plaza in Granada where lots of young people congregate and basically drink wine and sangria for cheaper than the bars. It is prohibited everywhere else in the city except for that plaza. Our host parents highly encouraged us to go as it´s a good way to meet Spanish students. This is all so interesting, this "going out" business.

OK, well I better get going. Tonight is Friday night so we´re headed to our favorite place for tapas, a Chinese bar called feng shui. The tapas are delicious-chicken wings, calamari, rice, etc. Then who knows where the night will take us. Tomorrow we´re hoping to take the bus and spend the day at the beach. Excelente!

Besos, MacKenzie

A fast paced life.

Alright, we're in dire need of a catch-up, otherwise the havoc and chaos in Madrid and my first impression of Granada will go completely undocumented. Not good! This entry is going to be super long and quite detailed, so please don't get too bored and realize that this is a quick way for me to journal as well as to relate my stories to all of you. Oh, and a word of warning—to all the family and friends (aka teachers) that are following my blog, please understand that I'm a 19 year old girl in Europe studying abroad, so there will be references to drinking and clubbing. If you find this either unacceptable or are unprepared for this, stop now! :) I will no longer give warning in my blogs, just know that if you're reading this almost anything is up for grabs, so don't go into a state of shock and call my parents or beg God to forgive me or whatnot. I'm in España, need I say more? 

Madrid: Overall, the city was muy grande for me (way too freaking big). It's a cosmopolitan type city like NYC, London, Paris, etc. Tons of people, tons of tourists, from everywhere in the world. Upon initial arrival I was in an extremely exhausted, very surreal state where I could not for a second comprehend the fact that I was located in España and my family and friends were still far behind in Arlington, Washington. Almost immediately I latched on to my roommate, Courtney, from Memphis, Tennessee, and we've pretty much been inseparable since. We've also been hanging out with Shannon from Texas (city unknown....Temple maybe?), and the three of us have had a blast together exploring Madrid (read further for interesting details!)

Anyways, my very favorite tourist activity that we partook in was visiting El Prado museum, which houses some of the most famous and quality paintings in the world. I was surprised and impressed to see Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez, because I remembered studying that painting back in Señor Latorre's class in 10th grade. I could have stayed in the Prado for many hours longer, but our time was crunched so I only saw the most famous, tour-guide explanation worthy paintings. The Royal Palace was whatever, I didn't care for it much. Once you've seen one palace you've pretty much seen them all, and the King's lunch, dinner, sleeping, dressing rooms get old. El Escorial, an hour bus ride away from Madrid, was amazing. Our tour guide was the cutest old man, and he was so funny. Everyone is so touchy feely here, the tour guide grabs our arms, guides us where we need to go, everyone greets one another with a kiss on each cheek; personal space is not considered important, or really existent for that matter. I kind of like it, surprisingly. El Escorial is a centuries old monastery that is still in use today. It's massive, with something like 11 miles worth of corridors and 10 acres in size or some gargantuan size like that. I have a wild imagination, so I was definitely traveling back in time to when the 16th century monks spent their entire days walking the halls of the monastery, spending their days in silence, praying. Quite cool. However, I can't help but to admit that I keep thinking about the Da Vinci Code and how some of these European historical landmarks were the locales for some creepy happenings, even if they were holy. Historically correct, I know, right!? 

Honestly, the nightlife in Madrid is amazing. We got into 3 clubs for free and got all free drinks simply because we're females. Oh, the societal standards we live in! We only went to the clubs one night, the other nights we went out for sangria with the entire API group or out for “churros y chocolate.” Delicioso! Club numero uno: Free, and a free “sex on the beach” drink. Very smoky, and the three of us got the stink eye from a young Spaniard woman who apparently didn't want any American girls there. We kind of received the stare down everywhere we went, though. Think about it. We have Shannon—tall, freckles, strawberry blonde hair, very pale. Courtney—beautiful, African American with a cute little figure and a sassy attitude, and me, tall and all curly blonde haired and big eyed, not to mention that I smile at everyone, girls apparently don't really do that here. We stick out, our little trio. By the way, lots of the Spaniards call me “rubia” here, meaning blonde, which is strange because at home I'm just the boring dirty blonde! Anyways, here we meet Freddie, Oscar, and another whose name escapes my memory. Freddie seemed to be infatuated with me, and explained that in Spain “we kiss” and called me mi amor countless times as we left and made our way to a new locale...bar hopping, we couldn't stay long in one place!

Club numero dos: kinda sketch, lots of older people, and the music was pretty unfamiliar, but fun in a Spanish salsa sort of way. We headed to the dance floor, and we soon discovered we were being tracked by a few gentlemen. This reinforced our conclusion that we can't really enter a Spanish club unnoticed. Awesome! Here...not so much. :) Drunk man grabs Shannon and starts tango-ing or something with her, and then 6'6” 135 pound disco man starts dancing with Courtney. And over to me comes the prize of the group, and I'm actually not even being sarcastic. A tallish guy, sort of Spanish/Middle Eastern looking comes up and we dance a little, chat a little, I start in Spanish then discover that he's British (awesome, I know right!). He seems to take a liking to me, and asks if I'd like to have a drink with him. Upon my saying yes, he wheels toward the bar to grab something. Thinking like a truly responsible 19 year old young lady, I follow him, because nobody is giving me a drink that I don't see leave the bartender's hand! :) Ha....so my friends were a bit weirded out by disco man and drunkie, and it was apparent that they were itching to leave.  So after chatting with Sonny (el British cute man) about school, soccer, and a variety of other random topics, I say it was wonderful to meet him but I have to leave. He promptly requests my phone number. I don't even know my phone number here! I'm in a foreign country. I will only be in Madrid for two more days. This guy is 5 years older than me (not a big deal, but ya know). I've never even had a guy ask for my number, much less a foreign guy who I literally just met and I don't even know how expensive the phone bill would be to talk to him. These were the many things going through my mind, some of which I explained, some of which I didn't. So, I said no, much to his disappointment. He sent me off with a peck on the forehead, saying, “Well, here's to the first and last time we meet, MacKenzie.” …..and I left with a wave and a smile. I kind of regret not getting his number. 

And club numero tres: Ladies Night: Free entry, free drinks. My kind of place, I like bargains. Oh, and lots of muchachos. We were first humored by the completely serious bartender who did not show one ounce of emotion, and although he was fairly attractive, it was apparent that the bar was the last place in the world he wanted to be. Oh, by the way-mixed drinks in España=half alcohol, half mixer. Not so tasty. Here we encountered some very humorous young guys that were a lot of fun to practice Spanish with, dance, and laugh and take pictures. Courtney meets Javier, and their potential love is now long in the works, because she wasn't a baby and got his number when he suggested. Overall, such a fun night of clubbing, a taste of the nightlife in Madrid, and we were exhausted the next morning with four hours of sleep but can't wait to do some more dancing here...

Moving on. I shouldn't go into as much detail as that because it takes forever but the first Spanish clubbing night was too memorable to not document. We're now in Granada. Courtney and I are living with our host family, Marí Carmen and her husband Pepi. They are in their 40's or 50's and speak absolutely no English, not even hello! They are so funny and they like to go out and party a bit themselves! We have our own bedrooms which I have just purchased a fan for, as there is no AC and it's like 95 degrees all the time. The food is...interesting. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here, and our lunches that Marí Carmen makes us have been getting progressively better. We eat bread for breakfast every day, and for dinner it's usually a sort of hodge podge of fruit, cheese, bread, and usually some strange thing that we aren't sure what it is but we still eat it anyways. They don't eat much meat here. It's pretty much lots of carbs: bread, potatoes, fruit, etc. We have been practicing our Spanish as much as possible. I mostly hang out with Shannon and Courtney, because we like to be away from the big group. API is great for a starter but it's definitely harder to meet locals when you're in a group of 10 Americans than if you're with only 3. We have discovered a cheap bar for drinks and tapas, a Chinese place that is small and not filled with Americans. 

Today I took my intensive language placement test and I placed into the high intermediate class for the month of September. I will have 4 months of intensive language so by the time December rolls around, I should have completed the high intermediate, advanced, high advanced, and superior language classes. And next semester I will be more than prepared to take the Hispanic Studies program, because my Spanish should be so much better by then. School starts on Thursday and I seriously can't wait, as dorky as that sounds. I just can't wait to learn more in class and get more comfortable with speaking so that I can utilize it more in my everyday life here. I'll be going to class from 9-1 Monday-Friday. Good schedule except for the fact that many students party until 6 am, even on school nights. 

Today Shannon, Courtney and I made a pact to speak in Spanish for our walk back from the CLM (Centre de Lenguas Modernas) and we ended up speaking Spanish straight through for probably an hour and a half. It's tough, trust me. We went and hung out at Shannon's house (her mamá allows her to have guests, ours doesn't) and there we met an 18 year old guy named Tomás and got some practice speaking with him. He was fixing the shower in their bathroom, and we're hoping to get his number so that we can hang out with him and practice Spanish some more! I really can hardly believe how much my confidence in speaking and listening have both improved over only a week, I can only imagine what the progress will be like after an entire semester here with school!

Well, that is all for now I guess, I am off to the internet cafe to post this, (I'm writing in mi casa, but we don't have internet here), and then we're going to the bars tonight to celebrate our scores on the placement exam! Till next time, hope I didn't bore you too much with my stories! :) 

Hasta luego, MacKenzie