So I got back from Lisbon late Monday night, and I leave for Morocco tomorrow night. That gave me about 72 hours in between to do productive things. But, as usual, I do everything possible that is "productive" in my world but not so much productive for school. Por ejemplo, I have uploaded my pictures onto facebook, roughly figured out what I want my schedule for Fall quarter at WWU to look like, done laundry, and am currently listening to Kenny Chesney and writing to all of you. While some of the more important things on my to do list include, but are not limited to, my linguistics paper, my Civ & Culture paper, and my Women in Spanish Literature paper. Anyways. I will now proceed with storytime.
First I'll start off with a MacKenzie being totally pissed off recount. So last Tuesday, my friends and I get all hyped up to go dancing to Mae West, because it's free on Tuesday nights. We get all ready, go to the Chupiteria (shot bar, if you can't remember by now) and Marisma, and by the time we're ready to head to the Mae, we are all significantly intoxicated. We hoof it to Mae West, which is about 10-15 minutes away from where I live. Allison, Emily, and Adam were ahead of King, Alyssa and I, and they got into the discoteca with no problems. Then come King, Alyssa, and I, and the jerkface bouncer asked us for our ID's. First of all, I have been living in Granada since August and never have I been asked to show an ID at a bar, discoteca, nowhere. Thus, I do not carry it with me. The bouncers surely know this, because this was just their way of not letting us in. So we called the others, who drunkenly tried to contest the final answer, but to no avail. We walked away with heads hung a little lower, wondering why we weren't allowed into the discoteca. We were all dressed up! I can only think to explain that Allison, Emily, and Adam are all tall (over 5'10"), and thin. And I made up the tallest of our little clan at not even 5'9". In addition to that, which we think is the main reason we didn't get in, King is Filipino, so obviously he is darker and Spaniards are bastards. So we watched a bunch of ugly ass Spanish girls get into the club, and I will never be returning to Mae West, as I don't condone their racist/anti short/chubby folk getting into their discoteca.
Academically life has been interesting. I have discovered that a few of my teachers do not mark off the days when we miss class, so I fill in the blanks when I do go and skip more class. Devious, yes? The reality is that in my Hispanic American Lit class, there is absolutely no reason for me to be there. It is utter garbage. And the final is a paper that I've already completed, so this gives me no reason to go. However, outside my classes I have been enjoying my work. For my women lit class I had to read a contemporary novel, and I chose a book called La Voz Dormida (The Sleeping Voice) and it's about women who were imprisoned during and after the Spanish Civil War and the beginning of Franco's regime. Once I got beyond the difficulty of reading a Spanish novel, I became used to the vocabulary and surprisingly got totally into this book. And for my essay for class I had to compare it to a movie we watched in class, Las Trece Rosas (the 13 Roses). It's hard to explain how I was affected the last few weeks by the book and the movie. Las Trece Rosas is a true story about 13 women who were executed for a crime they didn't commit, as a way for Franco to kill off the Communists who were imprisoned. It is incredibly sad, but when it comes down to it, it's a story of hope, dignity, and fighting for what you believe in. Cheesy, right? Wrong. I had tears streaming down my cheeks when we watched the movie in class, and they didn't escape me when I watched the second time at home. It still continues to amaze me the wrongs that were committed in Spain during that time, and that nobody stepped in to help them. I don't know where I'm going with this. Basically, I will always remember those women, although their story has been lost in history, more or less.
Brief note. I've decided to up the honesty in my blog. However much I love my roommates Ana & Jess, I am more than excited to be living at 6720 Oakwood Place, Arlington, WA 98223 starting May 26 until I move back to Bellingham. Our kitchen is always absolutely disgusting, and we have cockroaches. Yep.
OK, now for Portugal. Awesome trip, absolutely perfect! Emma, Allison, Emily, Alyssa and I went for 4 days to Lisbon, and I absolutely fell in love with that city. It's beautiful, clean, open, and full of so much more diversity than Granada, or pretty much Spain in general. We didn't do much touristy stuff, which of course I loved. Only downside of the weekend was that apparently Portugal is allergy world for MacKenzie. Here's the rundown:
Day 1: Friday
-extreme exhaustion due to being up late on the overnight bus from Granada to Madrid
-after meeting Emily & Alyssa, who had an earlier flight, we bussed to our hostel and then embarked on some initial exploring of the city. This was when I first discovered that I love Lisbon
-SHOPPING. i know, I'm an addict. But you see, when H&M and I get together, we love to be friends. Thus I decided to lend my friend 75 euros that I probs won't be getting back anytime soon. Though I did make an awesome find for myself & bff Shayna, though I can't reveal it here in the very unlikely case that Shay Shay reads my blog.
-we ate at the not so good Wok, which wasn't horrible but not as good as Seville.
-and then we went to bed. And I slept like a rock.
Day 2: Saturday
-Day Trip to Sintra-we took a train an hour north of Lisbon, and visited the quaint little city there
-Emma, Alyssa, and I paid to visit the Moorish castle which looked remarkably like the Great Wall of China, and was fun because I felt like I was at a playground made for grown people.
-We reunited with Allison and Emily at Pizza Hut by the train station and downed 2 family size pizzas. We think this is the first time Pizza Hut in Sintra had experienced a purchase of such gran cantidad (so freaking enormous)
-After some nice napping, we went to McDonald's for dinner (just raking in the health food, I know)
-Pub Crawl: 5 euro, and after Allison's dress was blown halfway up her body when walking over a subway grate, we found Miguel, our fearless, drunken pub crawl leader. Lisbon has basically free for all botellon, aka drinking all throughout the streets. We went to bar number one and had some sangria that was supposed to be better than Spain's but this was totally bogus. There we met two Finnish girls who taught Alyssa and I the phrase "Helgen Gelgen!" which apparently meant Cheers in Finnish. (later we discovered that Helgen Gelgen is not cheers but in fact a word that Finnish people teach foreigners in order to make them laugh--nice). Bar numero dos was a salsa-ish club, and apart from being 500 degrees it was a total blast. Emily and I found ourselves in quite a bind a few times when we were completely surrounded by males staring at us, but all was well again when the other girls returned and Lady Gaga's Bad Romance came on....and then things got crazy. Let me just say, when Jordan and I go to Gaga August 22, it's gonna be nuts. And when you add Sexy Bitch into the mix at a good dance club, that's when I call it a good night out. Anyways, the night was great and we danced and danced and danced, and then at some point Allison decided to speak in "British" to Miguel (the half British/half Portuguese pub crawl leader) and I believe there is nothing significant left to report. Helgen Gelgen!!
Day 3: Sunday
-All intentions of going to the beach failed. It was too cold (in the morning) and there was no bus.
-So then we began a trek to Belém to find Starbucks. This was the longest walk of my life. I was fine, because my new sandals are awesome. However Emma and Allison had shitty footwear, and Alyssa had a popped blister. So Emily and I kept the troops trucking, and after many hours we reached Belém. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED this walk. There's basically the Golden Gate Bridge (see fb pictures) and the Jesus statue from Rio de Janeiro. It was sunny and breezy and hot and just the loveliest walk ever. And when we finally reached Starbucks, I was completely red eyed from allergies but that Mocha frappucino was delish!
-Dinner that night was the Hard Rock Cafe. This wouldn't have been our first choice because 1. it is very touristy, and 2. it is very expensive. However, it was basically the only thing open besides McD's, and veggie girl Allison couldn't handle more french fries. So we splurged. I had a BBQ Burger & a chocolate milkshake and it was quite possibly the most delicious thing I have ever consumed in my life.
Day 4: Monday
-checked out of our hostel & Emily and Alyssa went to their flight, so Emma, Allison, and I waited for ours by sunbathing in the grass in our clothes. Not quite the beach but as close to it as we could get!
-many hours of traveling by bus, metro, plane, ending in Granada at 2:30 am and finishing off my night with a shawarma.
I go home in 20 days, which is a sad fact. I live a fabulous life.
MacKenzie Jo
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You do live a fabulous live! What a lucky girl!
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