Izulde in Granada: RL Dynasty

[thealmighty]

In my extensive research on the subject, I have found that extensive writing of CK dynasty posts will often bring the decay of writing talent to a halt and, in most cases, accelerate the positive vibes from women.

[Cap Ologist]

Originally Posted by thealmighty

In my extensive research on the subject, I have found that extensive writing of CK dynasty posts will often bring the decay of writing talent to a halt and, in most cases, accelerate the positive vibes from women.

I believe there was an article about that in Modern Medicine last week that said the same thing.

[CamEdwards]

Izulde,

Have you ever read "Of Human Bondage" by Somerset Maugham? I think you would get quite a bit out of it.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

Izulde,

Have you ever read "Of Human Bondage" by Somerset Maugham? I think you would get quite a bit out of it.

I absolutely -love- that book.

[Izulde]

Thanks, guys, by the way. Those replies cracked me up.

Sevilla is the most beautiful and awesome city in Spain. There's so much to do and so much to see, it's unreal. And with around a million people, it's just small enough to feel comfortable.

It's also a lot less congested than Granada, despite having 4x the number of people.

We saw, in our too short time there, Maria Luisa Park (a tiny section of it) and a couple of the buildings from the 1929 Expo which are really cool and unique. We also saw the bullfighting ring and museum, which was an incredible and enlightening experience, thanks to a great guide, along with the cathedral, 3rd largest in the world.

Attached to the cathedral is the Giralda, a minaret tower left over from the Muslim mosque. I wound up walking up all 34 floors to the top. Incredible view and it's easy access because it's no stairs... all ramp, since in the days of the mosque, the man who would give the call to prayer made his way to the top of the minaret on horse.

After we got back to Granada, it was raining something fierce, so I waited under a roof for about an hour for it to let up. An African or Jamaican guy sold umbrellas next to me and he managed to sell a few. I offered him an apple, because I had two. He thanked me, but declined.

As he was leaving to try his luck elsewhere, he asked if I wanted an umbrella. I said yes and he handed me one. I went to pay him and he refused, telling me it was a gift.

That was really awesome and with it, I was able to make my way back home. The rain had also let up by then, which helped.

Oh, and I also heard back from my first girlfriend. From the way I'm reading her letter, it sounds like she's single, which, if true, shocks the hell out of me, as I thought sure she'd be married by now.

Oh yeah, the weird thing about it? She was just thinking about me the day before on her way to work, wondering if my email still worked.

So, who knows?

[Izulde]

I've been a sleeping a lot lately, like 10-12 hours a day and my energy isn't what it used to be. I'm thinking it's about time I cracked into the medication I brought along with me.

Last night, I was sitting on the steps outside the CLM like I always do when it's closed, talking to a few people online, surfing, etc, when this guy asked me, first in Spanish I couldn't comprehend, then in fairly passable English, if he could use my Internet for something.

Though he was pretty sketchy looking and there was a light in his eyes which wasn't all there, I said sure.

Turns out he's a schizophrenic who recently got prescribed Lonseren and he was looking for information on it in Spanish. We tried a few different Google searches, discussing possible hits that might work in a mixture of broken English on his end and broken Spanish on mine.

No luck on finding it in Spanish, and my language skills are nowhere near the level needed to have explained the English to him. Finally, he thanked me and went on his way, only to come back five minutes later, asking if I had a cigarette, which I didn't.

I did recommend he try asking at a pharmacy to see if they had information there.

Then he went on this little mini-rant in the English which is somewhat better than my Spanish about how schizophrenia is an illness in the brain and the chemicals are all wrong.

As I stood there and listened to him, I really felt his pain. To me, it's always seemed that when the sentence of schizophrenia is passed, every thought you have, every action you make, is subject to self-scrutiny. Is this me, is this rational or is it the Other, this imbalance that plagues me?

It especially hit home, because it was clear that this guy was quite intelligent, but not in the best of circumstances financially or healthwise. And I fear and have feared a similiar future for myself for a long time.

Eventually, we said good night and shook hands, each going our own separate ways.

I don't know if I'll run into him again or not, but it was definitely an experience.

[Izulde]

Although I'm probably not going anywhere during this 6 day holiday, unless it's a day trip to Almeria tomorrow, it's been extremely productive.

After consulting with my department chair back home and a few other people, I figured out what I'm going to do about grad school (See that particular thread), though I may change some of the schools I'll be applying to, pending another review. Arkansas will for sure make the list, though, as that's the one that matches closest to my interests.

I also spent a very gorgeous fall afternoon walking around the city and shopping.

It's getting colder lately, so I wanted to get a coat. I checked a few different stores, but couldn't find anything to my liking.

Then I walked into Zara, where in the men's department, I tried on this really awesome black coat that made me feel like the man. Although I really liked it, I wanted to check a few other things first, such as a tweed coat in the same store that, while it was warm and looked pretty good on me, just didn't have the wow factor, so I put it back.

I checked the Bershka's men store as a last stop, even though there was only one XL left in the awesome coat and I heard my mom and my grandfather's voices in my head both telling me to get it. Bershka had a somewhat similiar jacket that was $45 cheaper, but the material was of an inferior quality and I just felt icky even touching it.

So back to Zara's I go, where awesome coat is still there and a black fedora-style hat that must be the only non-absurdly priced one in Granada and goes perfectly with the coat is too, so I get both.

At the checkout, I hand the clerk my credit card and my ID. Only there's a problem. Student IDs, even though it has my photo and signature that match me and my credit card's signature, aren't accepted. I'm feeling like an absolute dumbass standing there while the clerk calls the manager to get it approved because I work upscale retail and I -know- this stuff, damn it. Fortunately, the manager gave the go-ahead.

After taking my purchases home, I go get ice cream from my favorite shop and in the spirit of adventure and the beautiful fall day, I decide to get an ice cream cone, as I haven't had one in years.

30 seconds later, I realize why I've stuck to dishes all this time.

Beards are not conducive to eating ice cream cones.

See, with a dish and spoon, you control the amount of ice cream that's going into your mouth. Not so with a cone. If that ice cream wants to come off, it's coming off, gosh darn it!

It got so bad that I made no less than 3 English tourists and a Spanish nun smile at how ridiculous I looked.

Oh well, at least I brightened somebody's day. And the ice cream was excellent as always.

[Izulde]

Me in new coat and hat. I apologize for this cafe's really terrible lighting.

[Izulde]

I finally beat Luminous Arc and checked gamefaqs to discover that there's some stuff I missed but not a whole lot.

On the whole, I'd recommend Luminous Arc. Yeah, it's a pretty easy, pretty straightforward tactical RPG, but the characters and story both managed to suck me in and the battles are fun, with some -very- unique characters in terms of their ability sets.

Perhaps not the greatest showing ever by Atlus, but certainly the most personally enjoyable.

[Izulde]

I tried out kickboxing tonight. Didn't like it all, though. Too much a fan of Asian martial arts, so I won't be pursuing it. Tomorrow I'll see if fencing has started up yet, even though I have this nasty cold.

I chatted up this really awesome Belgian girl today and talked fairly extensively about the Basque Country with this supercute Laotian chick (We turned out to have pretty much the exact same opinion concerning it). One thing that's nice about Spain is I find myself talking to women a lot more than I do in the States (outside of work that is).

Also, I received awesome news today. Dartmouth invited me to check out their grad school specifically for a Masters in Literature w/a concentration in Creative Writing. Granted it's too damn cold and a lot would depend on what type of financial aid package they'd offer, but I'm definitely going to look into it!

[Izulde]

6 Bacardi and Sprites in 1 hour + me waiting for chick who shows up with an entourage of female friends none of whom I know + noisy noisy bar environment = bad.

I cut out before things got ugly.

Oh, Icy, I have to give a presentation on Castilla-La Mancha Nov 27th. That's Toledo's community, right?

Do you think you'll be free any weekend before then?

[Izulde]

My knee's banged up from hitting a metal post on the way over here, but I'm still in a fantastic mood.

We visited Pamaneira (sp) in the La Alpujarras today and the La Alpujarras region, and I have to say, it's some of the most beautiful country I've ever been in.

When we got to the town, the CEA director told the two girls that had sandals that they couldn't go on the two hour hike because they were wearing sandals, which would be too dangerous.

On our way out, she notices my sandals and asks the local guide who's leading us on the hike about them. He looks at them and goes, "Oh, he'll be fine. They're leather and they look sturdy."

Two hours later, we're all completely exhausted. Uphill, downhill aroundhill for two straight hours, including extremely steep uphills, so steep they're almost sheer. I made it just fine, though, other than a couple stumbles where the rocks were looser than I thought. Yes, rocks. No smooth paths here. Not a hike for the faint of heart.

Another girl in the group wasn't quite as lucky. She turns out to have asthma, so it was quite rough on her. She finished though.

But oh, what beautiful beautiful country. I'm going to have to post a few pics when I get the chance.

Got back to the town and had lunch. Pasta was good, fries were greasy, and chicken was horrible. We also stopped at the fountain of St. Antonio, where, legend has it, if you drink the water, you'll have good luck in finding a boyfriend or girlfriend.

As I'd paid the rip-off price of a 1,50 euro for a small bottle of water in Granada, I went back to this fountain repeatedly throughout the rest of the stay to fill up and ended up drinking enough water to have Adriana Lima waiting in my bed when I got back home.

After lunch, I explored the incredibly tiny town and did some shopping. Bought a bottle of Alpujarra red wine, an awesome, though pricy sweatshirt, and, by following a group of people who went to the chocolate shop, some incredibly delicious, bargain-priced dark chocolate.

Upon returning to Granada, I stopped at the Isabel Theatre to see if the ticket office was open. It was, so I was able to buy a ticket for Sunday's Granada C.F. home game!

It wasn't until I returned home that the day took its only slight downturn.

I didn't drink enough no water.

No Adriana Lima waiting in bed for me.

[Izulde]

I just love the bare trees against their more festively colored brethren


This is one of my favorite pictures... probably because to me, it has that enchanted forest feel to it.


Cascading water is one of my picture obsessions, hence this here mountain stream.


I wasn't kidding when I said it was rocky going on our hike.


Two girls from the group drinking water at St. Antonio's fountain. Not that either one needs it, as they both have boyfriends.


My new favorite picture of myself. I've got the mountain man look and the hat and coat go perfectly with it. There's the waterfall, the trees, the bridge, my camera, the 1,50 euro Lajaron bottle (which, incidentally is bottled in the Alpujarras region)... what more do you need?

[Izulde]

Saturday night, I was feeling in the mood for a movie, so I went to see Knocked Up in Spanish.

Beforehand, I had about two hours to kill, so I wandered around and went to Francisco Garcia Lorca Park, which is as beautiful by night as it is by day and sunset, especially with the colored lights on the fountains.

I went to the small playground and swung on the swings for a while, just relaxing and forgetting some stuff that'd been driving me crazy, mostly related to school and housing back in the US.

About half an hour later, a van pulled up and two guys got out. I had the premonition that they were there because of me, so I stayed where I was, as they looked to be wearing official uniforms. Sure enough, they told me that the park closed at 10 (It was 10:30 then), so I had to leave. They were extremely nice about it, too.

Went back and watched the movie in a theatre that had seats which were okay and far, far more leg room than in the US. Unfortunately, the screen was also much smaller than I'm used to, which took some getting used to, along with the whole assigned seats thing.

A lot of the sex and nudity-related humour failed to make a hit with the audience, but some of the same parts generated laughter and they particularly thought the scene where Seth Rogen's playing outside with the two daughters was hilarious. They laughed so hard and so long at that part we missed a few lines. It seemed that in general, this particular Spanish audience appreciated physical humour. Not sure if that's a national tendency, though.

Sunday was the soccer game. Granada C.F. against... arg can't remember the name now. C.D. Basa? something like that. Great seats for $15! The first half was pretty boring, with the opposition having a few great chances, but couldn't convert. Granada C.F. played terrible. The second half, both teams played a lot better and though the opposition deserved to win, the score ended in a 1-1 tie.

I noticed C.D.B. in general played with a lot more passion and enthusiasm than Granada and I regret to say that I saw the most evidence yet why Granadinos have a reputation for being mean and rude in Spain, such as the guys behind me who used my coat as an ashtray and tray for their sunflower seeds until I put it on just to get them off of it.

After the game, I was waiting at the bus stop to go back home and the visiting team's fans' bus was directly across the street. A sizeable group of Granada C.F. fans were about half a block down, prevented from getting closer by 8 police officers and a paddy wagon that protected the bus. There was a lot of shouting and gestures and whatnot from the Granada fans and a little bit from the C.D.B. fans on the bus. One of the officers rapped his nightstick on the bus window and went on twice to tell the people not to antagonize the Granada C.F. fans.

All in all, it was a busy, fun weekend. Midterms this week. Spanish Culture and Civ will be easy, though I'm dreading the Spanish language midterms. So much to remember!

[Izulde]

I did okay but not great on my midterms, I think.

Friday morning, my Islamic Civilization in Spain class took a 3 hour hike through parts of Granada that I haven't been to yet and the professor took us to places like the Isabel Convent, where the nuns sell pastries through a secret door.

You pull on this knocker, wait for an answer, open the little door, tell them what you want and put your money on this rotating shelf.

The shelf spins around and a few minutes later, your purchase and your change come out on it, so you never see the nuns at all and they don't see you. It's pretty darn cool, actually.

The pastries turned out to be sort of a lemon muffin-cake type thing with sugar sprinkled on top. It was -delicious-! The prof got us each one and we took a break in a small park to eat them.

We also saw a Moorish palace which was like the Nasrid palaces only in very, very miniature, the church that used to be the main mosque in Granada before it got converted to a Christian church and then finally the main current mosque in Granada, which had a very pretty garden and lovely fountains. Oh, we saw a couple other places too, but I don't remember them all now.

Saturday night, I'm out walking and realizing that it's very cold out and since I'm hoping to get to Paris before I go, I realize I'll need gloves. Luckily, Zaras was still open so I went down to the men's department. There's one pair of XL gloves in my size. They're black, leather extraordinarily comfortable, and go great with my coat and hat.

They're also $22.

After a lot of deliberation, I told myself I deserved them because unlike everyone else, I don't go out drinking every night and spending money on overpriced booze. So I bought them and man am I glad I did. I don't know how they'll be when it gets Wisconsin winter cold, but they're perfect for now.

Tonight (Sunday night) I decided to go walking again and take some new routes I haven't before. In doing so I discovered the Jardines de Triunfo (sp), which a taxi cab driver had been very upset with me for not having seen. After seeing those gardens, the impressively tall statue of what I presume is Granada's patron saint, and most of all, the stunning row of fountains that change colors at night, I can only say I understand now why he insisted that I see them.

I also found, in the course of my travels, the falafel place and the bakery where the original three of us (roommate, girl and I) got that great falafel and those tasty doughnuts all those weeks ago. I got a doughnut and left, feeling quite cheerful.

A block down, I discover an arcade, one that's open till midnight on Sunday. For the fun of it, I go in and look around.

And there I see Virtua Tennis 2.

Now, a little known fact about me: I love tennis, both video game and in real life. Super Tennis is one of my top 25 fave games of all time and is one of 3 reasons why I still occasionally play my SNES (Romance of the Three Kingdoms II and NCAA Basketball are the other two). I also played tennis for two years in high school, winning Most Improved my junior year and having tennis as my only sport senior year, when I worked at Best Buy. My fondest sports playing memory is from tennis and the sport's my second favorite to watch.

That being said, I haven't had a really really fun video game tennis experience since Super Tennis, but I've heard rave reviews about the Virtua Tennis series, so I decide to put a euro in and play a couple games.

I scan through the available players and am disappointed to see no Anna Kournikova or Maria Sharapova, so I go with the next best option and take Jelena Dokic. Ironically enough, the opening tournament is in Paris and I draw Sanchez-Vicario, a Spainard, as my first opponent.

Now, I'm extremely rusty, so I have to go to deuce in both games, but I beat Sanchez-Vicario 2 games to 0.

Then this flashes on the screen:

2nd round: Jelena Dokic vs. Venus Williams

Oh. Fuck.

I got my ass handed to me the first go-round, to the tune of only getting 2 points the whole 2 games.

Second time, after I use my other credit, I start playing baseline more, which is my fave tactic in video tennis and I win the first game. I go up 30-0 in the second game and I'm feeling pretty good. Then Williams goes apeshit and before I know it, it's 1-1 tie, leading to the deciding game. We go back and forth and it's 30-30. I'm sweating cuz a) it's hot as hell in there and I've got my coat on and b) it's been years since I've played in an arcade, so my reflexes are a little dull.

Bam. Bam.

"Game. Set. Match, Venus Williams."

Damn.

Still, it was a lot of fun and I'm still cheerful as I head to the Internet cafe. I decide to get the 40 hours for 36 euros bonus card thing, which makes it half-price for those 40 hours and is perfect for my plan of one hour a night in the cafe during the rest of my time here.

I get the card, go to the laptop section, and fire up my computer.

I plug in the adaptor.

Bam.

The whole cafe loses power.

We all just kind of sat there for a minute in shock, before we start getting up and heading to the register. The guy there told everyone to just give him the time cards and they wouldn't have to pay, because with the power gone, the computer that measures the time spent for each person was out, too.

A few people insisted on paying, which I thought was cool. Some people just took the free time they got and left. I obviously didn't pay anything or use my card, because I was never connected.

I go outside and find out that I didn't just take out the cafe.

I took out the whole city block.

But then again, I should've known the evening was going to be eventful when, as I got to the gas station before I turn to go to school, I saw the Belgian chick I screwed things up with by asking her out using a political joke.

We said hi and I asked how she was. She said she was waiting for a friend to go to the movies and I replied that was cool, I just lived a few blocks from there and was on my way walking.

Now, she was smiling and seemed open to conversation. A normal guy would've stayed to chat her up, maybe repair the damage from his earlier screw-up.

Me? I was busy thinking about my The Beautiful Girl and the History Class dynasty and wanted to play around in my head with some more ideas, so I just grinned, told her to enjoy the movie, waved and walked off.

[Cap Ologist]

Much more important to get cyberlaid, than in real-life, huh?

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Cap Ologist

Much more important to get cyberlaid, than in real-life, huh?

Yeah, tell me about it. The really geeky part about it is, it's not even a question of me getting cyberlaid vs RL... it's a question of me chatting up a hot girl who might've been receptive to starting over from previous screwup and instead wandering off to think about a story that I post online that's partially derived from a computer game I play.

I don't think anyone can touch that level of nerdiness.

[Cap Ologist]

So, does this mean a Ck update is coming soon?

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Cap Ologist

So, does this mean a Ck update is coming soon?

Probably tomorrow. I'm in class most of the day today and a depressing series of events has me out of the mood to write much.

[Izulde]

I've had to a ton of hoop jumping tonight and for some reason, the flight from Malaga to Dusseldorf on the way out and back into Malaga via Frankfurt on the way back require paper tickets.... so travelocity is having to international fed ex me my tickets (they said they wouldn't charge me, which I thought was very nice of them and to be honest, this is the first time I've ever had any complications with any bookings through travelocity)

...but the good thing is....

I'M GOING BACK TO PARIS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 14 YEARS!!!!!!!

[Cap Ologist]

Originally Posted by Izulde

...but the good thing is....

I'M GOING TO HAVE THE NEXT CK UPDATE POSTED SHORTLY.

fixed it for you.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Cap Ologist

fixed it for you.

I'll have an update posted later tonight, though I'm not sure when.

[Icy]

Looking forward to meet with you in 1 hour

[Izulde]

Toledo is awesome, Icy is like, the best person you could have show you a town ever and I ended up with 3 swords when I planned to get 0 or 1. All involve long stories but I'm too drained from the 6 hour bus trip from Madrid to Granada to write much.

Thanks agian for everything, Icy!! I had a blast!

[Icy]

Thanks for your kind words, now post the damn pics

[Izulde]

Yes, sir!


Icy ponders lunch.


Hmm, centurion guy or knight guy? Wizard Hat or Robe for Men Question.


Part of New Toledo, where most everyone lives.


Cool bridge by night.


Two weird guys hanging out on Cholesterol Road in front of a panoramic view of Toledo.

[Izulde]

I have to be honest, Gibraltar was something of a letdown in terms of the actual city. I expected something bustling and active and it's really not. It's just this small cluster of touristy shops, restaurants, government buildings, apartment complexes, and a pretty cool harbor.

That being said, the Rock of Gibraltar is awesome and the caves inside pretty cool, as are the mosque on the very southern tip of the town and the Moorish castle, neither of which we got to visit, nor did we visit the World War II siege tunnels.

As for the apes.... they're funny and cute. One jumped up on our mini-bus and tried to drive. Another one, after we left St. Michael's cave and parked, jumped up and honked the horn repeatedly. We all jumped and thought it was the guy behind the bus because we had to park in the middle of the road, but it turned out to be the silly monkey.

Then, after I get my picture taken with the small monkey who hopped from shoulder to shoulder, I'm standing there watching other people get their picture with the small monkey, when I feel this giant weight on my shoulders. The large monkey decided my shoulders and hat looked like a really cool resting and climbing spot.

The funny thing was, he did it once, then climbed off after a bit. Then, like thirty seconds later, he did it again! That monkey must have really thought I was totally cool or something. After that, I'm like, "...Okay, I'm moving over here now."

Before St. Michael's Cave, we went to the very southern tip of the city, where, on a clear day, you can see Africa within sight. Naturally, we came on a cloudy day and furthermore, we were there at the worst possible time for taking pictures, as the sun was to our backs for photo ops.

When we broke for free time, I went with a bunch of people from my group to The Clipper. Great food and the second-best fish and chips I've ever had (Nothing will beat Beschoff's), but they charged us for two fish and chip plates we didn't order and they were also -VERY- SLOW. It took so long to get it straightened out, that I didn't have time to grab anything shoppingwise save for a couple postcards.

The exchange rate is a ripoff too. Gibraltans charge an amount in euros that's higher in dollars than what the equivalent dollar price would be in pounds. So, instead of $15 for my meal like it should've been, it was $18. Not a big difference, I suppose, but it all adds up.

We're in Ronda for tonight, but I'm just going to chill in my hotel room. Don't feel like getting drunk or spending that kind of money. Tomorrow's the tour of Ronda and I'm looking forward to it, especially New Bridge!


The Rock of Gibraltar


Good Rex Ape


Bad Rex Ape

[Izulde]

Ronda is one of Spain's best kept secrets.

Gorgeous, gorgeous city with lots of incredible mountain scenery and the New Bridge is awesome.

It's re-affirmed more strongly than ever the idea that I need to live someplace where there's mountains. I'd love for it to be close to a beach too, but mountains definitely.

It's also a lot more lively than Gibraltar, it seems. The guided tour we went on was awesome, with lots of cool information, not all of which I can remember right now, and I got some great pictures.

In our free time after the tour, I visited the bullfighting ring, which, while not as impressive as Sevilla's, is pretty in its own right. I also saw books on bullfighting in English, but they were at ripoff prices, so I figure I'll just buy some when I get home, now that I know what they are. I did, however, get a DVD on bullfighting.

After that, I went shop browsing and wandering the city. Ate my cheese sandwich that senora made for me and had chocolate with churros at a little place where I accidentally asked, "Am I open?" instead of "Are you open?", which made the cute Spanish girl sweeping laugh. The churros were fantastic and the chocolate good, but the chocolate was much thinner and not nearly as tasty as the thick chocolate at Cafe Futbol here in Granada. I also had a piece of chocolate cake a short while later when I ran into some friends from the program.

They told me they'd gone down into the canyon to take pictures of the New Bridge from there and so I raced down into the canyon, because I was running short of time, and nearly fell on my nose twice. Not helping matters was the fact that a small shack where the best path to the bottom of the canyon to take pictures of the bridge was advertised for a euro was empty. I would've paid a euro for that but no go. I even knocked on the door and called through it, too.

But it was worth it. The view from there is awesome and you can see the waterfall that's in the canyon, which you can't do from up above. On the way back, I ran into a couple pretty Korean girls who smiled broadly at my heaving, sweating, panting self because it was a steep, steep climb going back up and I was already exhausted from my run down.

Oh yes, a couple things about Gibraltar I forgot to mention last post. First off, they have a legend that says once the monkeys leave Gibraltar, it'll become Spanish again. The Gibraltans don't want that, so they have a hospital set up just for the monkeys.

Secondly, I experienced considerable culture shock seeing and hearing English predominately again. It felt strange and unnatural to my ears, which have become used to Spanish. This probably means I'm due for one hell of a culture shock when I get back to the US.

[Izulde]

Ugh. Talking to the people back home about the credit card bill and it appears there's been quite a few errors made.

Not cool. Not cool at all.

[Izulde]

Good news: The credit card mishaps were actually my dad reading the bill wrong. Everything's cool.

So, yesterday I get up at 6:45 am to commence the long journey: bus from Granada to Malaga, plane from Malaga to Dusseldorf, plane from Dusseldorf to Paris, taxi from Charles de Gaulle airport to hotel.

Everything went smoothly until the taxi part.

I thought the address for my hotel was on one of the tour vouchers I have, but it wasn't, so the taxi cab driver had to call one of his friends to look it up online because he didn't know the address offhand.

Thankfully, he had a GPS system in the taxi to let him know for sure how to get there once he had the address.

So we got that problem finally straightened out only to run into the great Parisian horror known as nighttime traffic. An hour and 15 minutes before we finally got out of bumper to bumper traffic and it was nearly an hour and a half and $100 from the airport to the hotel.

Nice hotel room, though, especially for the price. Have to share a toilet and a shower, each of which are in separate rooms, with the other 5 rooms on the floor, but I'm used to this after fraternity house and dorm life.

Today was Normandy, which I'll cover in my Izulde in Normandy mini-dynasty.

After I got back from Normandy tonight, I took a quick 15 minute nap, had some water and biscuits (the English version of the word) and decided to go exploring.

I came across a massive cineplex in my exploration and since my guide told me that in the touristy places the American films are usually original language subtitled in French and this main street in Montmarte definitely looked touristy, I thought I'd watch a film.

I had trouble reading the schedule because it said Seance, Film, Fin. I assumed that it meant previews, film, ending time and saw I could catch the Golden Compass at 7:50, which was the exact time then.

Okay, no problem. I'll miss previews and opening credits which sucks, but I can deal.

I mispronounce the name naturally, but the guy smiles and corrects me. I pay the 7 euros, get the ticket torn and the right theatre pointed out.

I look at my ticket and notice with horror and irritation that it says 7:35 pm. What the hell? I know there's a cultural misunderstanding on my part here, but it's still aggravating. Ah well, I tell myself, at least I can catch most of the movie and just see the rest when I get back to the States.

So I go downstairs to theatre 2.

Gorgeous theatre, with starry lighting and comfortable seats. Big American-style picture screen. Terrific film transfer.

One problem.

It's dubbed in French.

I sit there about 5 minutes before I think, "This is stupid. I want to see this movie. Why ruin it by watching it in a language I can maybe pick out a few words here and there based on cognates of what I know in English, German, and Spanish?"

So I get up and walk out.

Ticket taker guy is smirking and he smirks even more when I go out the wrong exit twice, which cashier quite cheerfully points out to me.

As I finally go out the right exit, I can hear the two of them laughing at me.

I explored some more and after studying the metro map, decided to call it quits for the night and make up for it by spending tomorrow walking along the Seine.

[Izulde]

My only day in Paris proper was yesterday. It was also my only day to sleep in, so I got up shortly after 9. By 9:30, I was ready to go.

I walked around Rue de Montmartre for a while until I thought, "This is stupid. I knew the subway really well 14 years ago and it shouldn't be hard to figure it out again."

Sure enough, a two-day unlimited Metro pass purchase and a subway map consultation later and I remembered it just as well or even better than I did when I was 14.

I zipped on over to Champs de Mars, making a couple line changes along the way and was quite pleased to come out very near the Eiffel Tower.

I was immediately accosted by a woman who asked if I spoke English.

First thought: She looks like a gypsy.

After reading the card: "Blah blah blah out of work blah blah blah two kids blah blah blah sick mother blah blah blah father dead for two months"...

Second thought: She -is- a gypsy.

Needless to say, I quickly resumed walking and despite repeated calls of, "Excuse me, sir, do you speak English?" from the fifty million other gypsies at and around the Tower, I ignored them.

Until I got so fed up, I started shouting "Rougka!" at them whenever one tried to approach me.

After a couple times of this, a girl came over to me and asked, "...Why are you shouting 'Pen!' at them?"

I answered, "Because they obviously speak English and since I and a ton of other Spainards are on holiday here, there's a good chance they'll know Spanish. We're close enough to Germany that they might well know German, which leaves Russian."

"What if they know Russian?" she countered.

I grinned, "In that case, they have to decide whether I'm stupid or crazy for shouting 'Pen!' at them. I'm obviously not stupid, so therefore must be crazy and hence avoided."

After she laughed, I went on my way and saw there were two lines: One for the lift (very long) and one for the stairs (very short). I thought to myself: How bad can the stairs be? and took that option.

350 steps to the first level. Another 350 steps to the second level.

My legs nearly gave out on me, because going up 700 steps is not fun.

Gorgeous views, though also slightly disappointing because of all the safety grills in place. That's become quite common the last several years though, I've noticed. Probably one too many idiot leaning out too far on these monuments and falling off to their Darwin Award-style death.

I met a lot of Spainards at the Tower and had one couple take my picture after they asked me to take theirs. It would be a process I'd repeat throughout much of the day, as I spoke Spanish whenever someone spoke to me, unless it was an official tourist type person that I knew spoke English.

After the Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, which shocked me by how touristy it's become. No longer a vast, beautiful, quiet cathedral which chairs lining the walls (at least how I remember it). No, now it's jammed full of tourists, with umpteen chapels and saints' statues on the sides, along with encouragement to take away votive candles for 2 euros a piece, though the choice to donate or not was up to the individual.

I almost got one from the candles by St. Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc), as she's my favorite of all the saints, but decided not to.

As it was after 1 by the time I left Notre Dame, I decided to find lunch and located this extremely busy cafe a few blocks down from the cathedral which had menus with English translations.

Expensive, but excellent food. The escargot was exquisite, the seafood sandwich special recommended by the waiter very good, and the vanilla sundae with chocolate syrup and whipped cream quite tasty.

I was amazed at how efficient the staff was there, even though they looked like they were short as even the manager was waiting and bussing tables. Extremely popular place, with a heavy contigent of French, so it's not like it was a restaurant just for tourists. A lot of locals there as well.

My last stop of the day was the Louvre, which again surprised me by having an attached mall that I didn't remember being there before. I was also quite pleasantly shocked by the discovery of electronic ticket machines that allowed me to bypass the long ticket lines completely. Needless to say, I took advantage.

In the Louvre itself, I visited the Napoleon III apartments, which I don't remember seeing before. Gorgeously appointed rooms that I'd love to live in. I also went to the Ancient Egypt section and took pictures of sphinxes and we all know why.

By the time I got out of those two places, it was around 5 pm. Normally the Louvre closes at 5:30, but because it was Friday, it was open until 9:30. This allowed me to visit the French painting sections and see lots of artwork by Jacques Louis-David, my favorite French painter, including some of his most famous pieces, like The Coronation of Napoleon and Josephine, which I'd seen before but was glad to see again. Everything I saw by him, I took a picture of it.

I was specifically looking for his Cupid and Psyche though, and spent an hour trying to find it... asking the guides in the rooms, being directed first to the second floor, second to the first floor, etc, etc. I found it strange that a couple of the guides had no idea what I was talking about.

Finally I gave up and went to the bookstore, to see if I could find the painting to show the guides. I found it in a book...

...Only to discover it's in the Cleveland Museum of Art.

As it was coming up at 7 by the time of this revelation, I decided to head back to the hotel. The Louvre metro station closed at 8:30 pm and I wanted to get back to Montmartre well before then.

All in all, a fun day visiting the places in Paris I've been. Today it's Versailles and Fontainebleau.

[Izulde]

Four months vanished, in what seems like a week's time.

Today was my last day in Granada.

I started off early with going to the University to find out my Spanish language grades. I got a 7.5 in Spanish Grammar and 8.5 in Spanish Writing and Conversation, which translate to a B and B+ respectively. Quite surprising, considering how I butchered the exam and hosed my presentation, but my participation grade and my strong final interview saved me.

Ran into the guy who's my best friend here on the way back and together we found out that he got 8.5 in both Spanish language classes. As we ran into our professor in the street, she showed us where we could buy a book on a local graffiti artist whose work we all admire and showed us where he lives, a brightly colored and graffitied affair, with a cluttered, sunken recreation area, whose most fascinating thing was an empty birdcage, though I don't know why it struck me so.

He wasn't at home, though, so I headed to the homestay to eat lunch and re-pack. Discovered I didn't have enough room in my two suitcases, so went out to go shopping for last-minute souveniers, including the graffiti artist book, and to pick up a third suitcase to use as a carry-on.

While I was doing some browsing in the Morrocan/Arabic part of the Albaycin, I saw none other than the Belgian girl. She was looking at a ring from one of the vendors. I tried talking to her, but she didn't answer. I assumed she was busy with the ring and waited, watching. She liked the ring, but didn't have enough money for it when she dug in her coinpurse, so the guy said, "Un regalo. Un regalo." A gift, a gift, always for the pretty women here.

I would've paid for it, being the generous person I am, but she stood up my friend on a date and pretty much ignored me after that night our paths crossed at the gas station. So in my opinion, she didnt' deserve it.

As I stood there, watching, it struck me just how Araby this moment was. This Arabian stall marketplace with its enchanted feel that most tourists believe has been here for centuries, but has only been around the last 15-20 years, with the recent immigration influx.

And I knew I'd always remember the Belgian girl this way, in this moment, with the bright, harsh light of the bare, incadescent bulb throwing her beautiful face half in light, half in shadow, the white man vendor, about my age, bearded and dreadlocked, staring at her with quiet, desparate longing as a dark purple dusky sky watched overhead.

Once she accepted the gift, I made my presence known again. This time she answered and I kept up a stream of cheerfully awkward conversation. I say cheerfully awkward because she made it fairly clear from her body language that she didn't want to be talking to me or around me, though she responded out of politeness, and I, on the other hand, was quite glad to be vengeful and make her uncomfortable for a few blocks until she finally found a pretext to be rid of me. Not for me, you understand. I didn't care. It was more for the way she treated my friend that I paid her back in that small way.

Shopping done, I went back and packed a third time. This time, thanks to the new suitcase and my backpack, I was able to finally fit everything I wanted to. Even with this, some things will stay remain behind, though nothing too terribly important. Mostly cheap things that I won't miss in the least.

Back out again I went, to take pictures of the fountains in the Triunfo Gardens (sp) and to have, one last time, churros con chocolate at Cafe Futbol. It's true that they're the best in Granada and maybe even in all of Spain, for the chocolate they use is rich and thick, like pudding. Oh so tasty, right down to the last spoonful.

Lot of families at Cafe Futbol. Saw grandparents, parents, and children laughing and having a happy time together, which only increased my holiday spirit.

Afterwards, I went walking some more. Saw this street performer who was absolutely brilliant in manipulating a marionette to play a real violin as well as an actual performer. Lady in Red was playing when I stopped by that plaza and he had a large crowd watching him and tossing their coins in his violin case. He was really good, probably the best I've seen since I've been here.

I also saw an African man get arrested. He was shouting about something not working because of people he knows or some such thing. That, too drew a crowd, especially when he made some small attempts at resistance against the cuffs. Not too much, though. Just enough to get his point across that he wasn't going along willingly.

On the way back, I stopped at Game Over one last time, to play Virtua Tennis 2 again. Took Mary Pierce, the American-turned-French because of her asshat father. Ironically drew Jelena Dokic, who I used last time, and spanked her. Then got beat out by Sanchez-Vicario. Spain trumps France, in my study abroad and in this game.

Got back to the homestay and did my final tidying up. Went to go to the internet cafe to round out my evening when a voice inside my head said, "Go get the lighter you got in Lanjaron Wednesday and take it with you. Give it to the Internet Cafe guy as a gift."

So I went back and got the lighter, a beautiful green one with an amazing button and terrific flame. 2 euros in a shop in woefully overrated Lanjaron. Fantastic water, terrible town. But more on that later, as in another post later. AKA for those of you in this group or reading this dynasty, don't leave it just yet. :P

I got to the cafe and saw from the outside that it was completely empty.

I found this puzzling and went inside. Fortunately the guy was there and not the girl who's sometimes there instead.

The following conversation ensued, entirely in Spanish. I'm including an English translation.

Guy: I'm sorry, we're closed.

Me: *blinks*

Guy: I just got a telephone call. There's been a death in the family.

Me: I'm sorry.

Guy: Thank you.

Me: A gift for you *hands lighter*

Guy: Thank you very much. *small smile* *gets ready to get his coat and leave* We'll be open again tomorrow or Saturday.

Me: It's my last night in Spain.

Guy: You're going back to the United States?

Me: Yes. Tomorrow morning.

Guy: But you will come back someday, I'm sure. Until then, it was very nice to have known you.

Me: Thank you. You too.

So we shook hands and said goodbye. I'm glad I went back and got the lighter. It's a small bit of brightness in a dark day.

Thus, fate destined me to visit one last place. The Potemkin Bar, where I love their Vietnamese tapas and Rioja red wine. I had a glass and a tapa and am now sitting outside on the steps of the university. It was too crowded in there to set up my laptop and it's gotten even more crowded since then.

Understandable. It's a popular place.

After I get back to the States and settled in, I'll be doing a final summary post reflecting on my experiences in Spain.

[Izulde]

I've been back in the US a week now and though much of the initial strangeness has gone, quite a bit still remains.

I keep wanting to go walking amidst the centuries-old, beautiful buildings and listen to the hubbub of Spanish as I walk among the throng. American voices, especially Wisconsin ones, sound so flat, so dull to my ears now, in a way they didn't before.

Although it's nice having everything in English now and it's a sheer delight being able to watch football again, I still really miss Spain. In particular the food, strange as it seems. I can't take the greasy, high-fat diet that American food entails anymore. In the week that I've been back and returned to much of my pre-Spain diet, I've noticed my energy, my mood, and my general state of health all taking a huge hit.

This strangeness probably won't fully wear off until I'm back in La Crosse and school's started again. I like Racine even less than before (and I hated it then) and northern Wisconsin has always chafed me with its small towns and lacklustre landscape.

That said, let's go through a summary review of my 4 months in Spain, grading specific areas.

Academics
Probably the single biggest disappointment of my time abroad. While my Spanish Civilization & Culture class was excellent, as were the language classes I took, my Spanish Lit class was so basic and so worthless I dropped it and my Islamic Culture in Spain class was a joke. I learned little in there, which is a real shame.

And I'm cutting this short. My grandmother has internal bleeding and she's going to the hospital as I type this. We depart ourselves for it.

[thealmighty]

Hope your grandmother is ok.

Just wanted to thank you for letting us come along with you for your semester abroad. It was very interesting following you around.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by thealmighty

Hope your grandmother is ok.

Just wanted to thank you for letting us come along with you for your semester abroad. It was very interesting following you around.

It's touch and go still right now, but my hunch is, she'll make it. Lot of things are going to change as a result of it, though.

And I'm glad you guys came along with me. It made it even more fun.

I'll continue the final summary when I'm not so tired.

[Icy]

It has been a good read and so nice for me to read the experiences of a "foreign" in my country.

It was great to meet you in real person too, and to be able to talk about football with somebody in real life, something i haven't ever done before as here nobody cares about the "other football i watch".

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Icy

It has been a good read and so nice for me to read the experiences of a "foreign" in my country.

It was great to meet you in real person too, and to be able to talk about football with somebody in real life, something i haven't ever done before as here nobody cares about the "other football i watch".

It was definitely awesome hanging around with you and I'm glad you've enjoyed this dynasty

[Karlifornia]

Man, that Belgian girl seems like a real bitch.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

Man, that Belgian girl seems like a real bitch.

That's a fair assessment.