Just a quick note

This one is just a quick one...it's late here (or rather, early). It's about 1:30am and I've got class tomorrow.

But I thought I'd let you know I finally got pictures uploaded to my computer, and therefore to the internet. So if you want to check them out, they are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/phoenixrisen41/Spain02

I put a bunch of pictures up so far, and I'll let you know if more go up later. (I'm sure they will!)

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Sevilla!

Ok, so one more quick update before I have to go back to class.

(Yes, apparently I have classes.) I did not know this, nor did any of the other direct exchange kids. But while we are in Sevilla we are taking three weeks of intense language courses. I think it's pretty cool because I am really ready to start classes again, plus it will be nice to get a bit more language experience before I go off and start real classes in Spanish with Spanish students where they aren't catering to Americans and speaking slowly etc.

I still haven't gotten internet on my laptop yet, so still no pictures. Hopefully it'll happen soon though because I have about 400 pictures just sitting on my camera, waiting to be uploaded to the World Wide Web for everyone's viewing pleasure. 400 pictures in five days is pretty amazing. I think it will slow down a bit now though.

So we did a quick tour of La Reina Sofía MOMA before we left Madrid on Monday. It was all interesting, but modern art is really not my thing. I liked the paintings by Dalí though, those were interesting. We also did a quick tour of El Palacio Real, which is the royal palace where the kings and queens of Spain have lived since Madrid became the capital. The palace was very spacious and very highly decorated, and very cold. I wouldn't want to actually live there.

We drove to Toledo later that day and did a quick bus tour of the old part of the city and then went to our hotel. My roommate Jenna and I went back into the city for dinner and walked around a bit. On Tuesday we did a few tours in Toledo. We saw a mosque, a church, and a synagogue (representative of the three different cultures of Toledo). I was really tired from all the walking after that though so I just went back to the hotel and slept for a bit. Jenna and I and a few friends went into the city again for dinner that night. We went to a place after dinner called Circulo del Arte, which is a discoteca that is located in a church. We went only because we thought that it was pretty ironic. But it was a pretty cool place and a bunch of us sat around talking for a while.

Yesterday we drove to Sevilla, which is about a 6 hour drive, plus stops for lunch etc. We stopped at the windmills (las molinas, or maybe molenas) in La Mancha for a few pictures on the way. When we got to Sevilla we met our host mom. Her name is Manuela, and her husband's name is Jorge. They live in a little apartment just on the edge of the older commercial center part of Sevilla. Jenna and I each have our own room, which is nice, and our family is super nice. They have two kids who are grown and living on their own now, and they have hosted international students in the past. Plus they both work at schools (Jorge is an engineering professor at a college, and Manuela is an administrator at a high school) so they know all about kids.

Anyways, things are going great, but it's time for class. I'll write more later!

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Madrid!

So, Spain is amazing so far (though I guess I don't really expect that to change).

First order of business though...AAARRRGGGG European keyboards. They are sooooooo close to the keyboards I am used to, but there are slight differences. For example, this symbol ´ is in the apostrophe spot (little finger on the right hand) and the actual apostrophe ' is next to the zero on the top row. Also, quotation marks " are shift 2 and the ? is also next to the zero instead of down below. A few other slight problems, but I'm doing my best!

So the flights were pretty easy, and customs in Spain were even easier. I gave my passport to a bored-looking woman behind a desk as I got off the plane and she stamped it. Then I went and picked up my luggage and just left. Getting a taxi to my hotel was pretty easy also. My Spanish is only slightly rusty when I have to speak, though in the two days I've been here I've never listened to anyone and not been able to fully understand what they were saying!

We went on a quick bus tour of Madrid Saturday night. It was pretty cool. We saw an Egyptian palace, the Royal Palace, the Suicide Bridge (so named for all of the people who jump off it and kill themselves; icky, right? there is plexiglass between the sidewalk and the edge now to further discourage people), a botanical garden, the opera house, and a bunch of other cool things.

Question...so has anyone heard of El Corte Inglés? It is a supermarket type store here, and apparently it's so big and famous that a lot of the kids I'm with learned about it in their Spanish textbooks in high school! Who knew! Anyways, it is like a super duper nice version of a WalMart (closest thing I can think of to describe it, I guess). There are four outside our hotel. Literally. One is the food market, one is a papeleria (stationary office supplies type of store), one is electronics, and I don't even know what the fourth is. And they are all the size of the biggest WalMart I've ever been in. They're huge!

Also, apparently everything here is on sale right now. They seem to have an annual sale (they being every single store in Madrid) that runs from Jan 7 to Feb 13 or so. There are signs everywhere that say REBAJAS! in huge letters. The same signs, on different stores. It's weird, but nice for shopping.

So just a quick update of what has gone on so far, and I'll write more later and post pictures. Right now I'm in an internet cafe and can't use my own computer. :(

So after the bus tour yesterday my two roommates Jenna and Carrie and a friend Jason and I went exploring. We got on the Metro and went in the direction of El Plaza del Sol to find some dinner. Jenna got here a day early so she had stayed in a hostel in the area so she led us around. We ended up at a tapas bar that had amazing food. We didn't really know what to order, so we just told the waiter to bring us three things he liked. So he brought us garlic prawns, little spicy sausages, and calamari or something like it. We also had an order of the tomato bread which is extremely finely chopped tomatoes (almost like a sauce) on bread with olive oil on it. Very yummy. We shared a pitcher of Sangria and a bottle of wine between us. The Sangria was very different from any I've had before and I liked it a lot. It was very sweet. We took the Metro back home afterwards. The Metro system here is very nice and easy to use!

Today we went to Valle de los Caidos which is a huge monument/church on top of a hill to commemorate those that died during the Spanish Civil War. It was created during the regime of Franco, and he is interred there. Got to see that part too. I'll tell you more about it when I can get photos up.

We also went to San Lorenzo de El Escorial. There is a huge monastery/library/palace/tomb there. It is an Austrian palace and it is the tomb where all the Spanish kings and queens are buried. It is also still a working monastery and there are monks who live there. The church part was beautiful, pictures to come later.

Other than that, I came back to the hotel and fell asleep. And now I'm here in an internet cafe that is connected to a Subway restaurant, where I found an hour of internet for €1, which is a pretty good price considering it is €5,50 for half an hour in the hotel.

I'll write more later!

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Going to Spain!

So we had an awesome Christmas. My dad knit me a pair of socks! Apparently it took him the entire five months I was gone in school to finish them, but they're awesome, and warm.

And I turned 21 two days ago. One of my friends took me out to a bar at midnight to celebrate. It was pretty cool.

And according to the Consulate of Spain in Houston, my passport (with the visa affixed to it) is on it's way to my house, scheduled to arrive at 10:30am on Monday morning. So I am actually going to Spain (barring any incredible unforseen problems). Hurray!

I spent most of the day today packing. I have apparently inherited my mother's organizational sense, though I think today has proved that I have since moved far beyond the realm of "organizing". (I also made three lists.) But you can decide for yourself I suppose.

This is what my room looks like after I went through
my dresser. The rest of my clothes are either being
washed, or I have to wear them in the next six days.

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So much ice!

So we had this crazy ice storm in Tulsa during finals week...


Icicles on the railing right outside the front door of my building.


Icicles hanging off all of the bikes on campus.


Gorgeous frozen tree right outside the back door of the Honors House.

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Flat Stanley! ...and other things

So I know, it's been a while since I've posted in here. It's been a pretty busy few weeks...

I think all of the teachers collaborated and made every big project, paper, and test due last week. It was pretty ridiculous, but I survived, and even got A's on most of my tests etc. Fun!

This week hasn't been much better because now that I'm not focusing on immediate schoolwork I am trying to catch up on everything else that fell by the wayside last week! I am working on my application for Study Abroad next semester. No. I still don't know where I'm going, except that it's going to be somewhere in Spain. Though today I went to the Center for Global Education and made an appointment to see someone next week to discuss program options. So at least I now have some sort of direction. This whole thing would have been a lot easier if I wasn't double majoring though! The only hang up on this whole going abroad thing is that I HAVE to take some sort of Java Programming class next semester because it's a prerequisite for the classes I have to take next year. So I've got to find that class in Spain somehow. I know it exists, it's just that I'll have to directly enroll into a Universidad in order to access it because most study abroad programs are all about Spanish Language and Culture and History. Which is all very interesting, but not what I need. But anyways, it's a relief to have that appointment made because those people in the CGE office know their stuff and I'm sure they'll be able to help me out, or at least point me in the right direction.

Another cool thing is Flat Stanley showed up today! For those of you who don't know (I'd assume that would be all of you, except for maybe Cassie if she reads this...) Flat Stanley is a boy who had the misfortune of having a bulletin board fall on him and squish him flat. However his misfortune has turned into something awesome in that now he can travel around the world through the postal system and not have to pay for plane tickets! So basically my first cousin once removed, Maxine, is in the third grade and read this story about Flat Stanley, and has made a Flat Stanley and sent it to me! (Yes, first cousin once removed is correct! She is my cousin's daughter, and I know that everyone in my family has this discussion every two years at the family reunions, but I looked it up. And what Wikipedia says goes! You can check it out if you wish... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin)

So anyways, Flat Stanley gets to hang out with me and my friends here at TU for a bit and experience college. I'm pretty excited, cuz I'm kind of a dork like that, and definitely a kid at heart. My friends and I already have a bunch of plans for Flat Stanley cuz tonight is Battle of the Bands and tomorrow there is a football game and my residence hall is having a huge tailgate party beforehand. It's gonna be awesome!

In other news, the weather here is dumb. Half the time it rains. When it rains, half the time it is cold and windy and rainy, and half the time it is hot and humid and rainy. When it doesn't rain it is either sunny and disgustingly hot and about to start raining, or windy and chilly and about to start raining. I just don't get it. AND! Apparently it's going to take me longer than living here for two years to start to understand the air conditioning systems in place here. I look outside in the morning. It looks sunny and hot out. I put on jeans and a tank top. I actually walk outside and lo and behold it actually is sunny and hot out! I get to the Business Administration Hall (BAH) and go inside for class. It's refreshing, because it was starting to get a bit hot outside. I walk into a classroom and by the time I have taken off my backpack and sat down I am absolutely freezing! I swear judging by my goosebumps the AC must be set at about 55 degrees! And this happens about every day. You'd think I'd learn to take a jacket with me. But then again, you'd think that when it's 95 degrees outside and sunny, you wouldn't need a jacket! Ah well, either I'll learn or I'll freeze.

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The "Next Coming" (Tulsa Chapter)

So I read my cousin Mandy's blog about the "Next Coming" of the cicadas when she posted it in the end of May of this year. (For those of you who haven't read it, read hers first as she is a much better writer than I: http://wheresmyrumball.blogspot.com/2007/05/accidental-entomologist.html)

Anyways, I laughed in the appropriate spots and was grossed out in the appropriate spots. I sort of sympathized in the way that people do when they hear about something happening but have never experienced it themselves. It was like reading a book and I thought "Oh poor Mandy" but it never really seemed real since it hadn't happened to me. Until last week.

Now I'll preface this by saying in no way is campus covered in cicada exoskeletons, nor is the sound unbearably loud. But we are apparently close enough to Chicago to experience the "coming" of the cicadas for ourselves.

I was walking across the street to another dorm the other day when I saw a few friends outside who had challenged each other to a tree-climbing contest. Needless to say they didn't get very far up the tree before they ran into the abandoned exoskeletons of the cicadas, still clinging to the bark! I still hadn't connected Mandy's story with the bug shells in "my own backyard" at this point, but I asked someone what was going on and they said "Look, cicadas!"

All of the sudden everything clicked. I looked at a few other trees nearby and saw the same shell carcasses sticking to the bark. And now I knew what those never ending buzzing/chirping sounds had been for the past few days! So of course I ran inside to get my camera and here is what I was able to capture...

The "next coming" of the cicadas (Tulsa chapter):

It is hard to tell the size of the bugs from the picture because there is nothing to reference it by. But when I picked up one of the shells it fit neatly into my cupped hand. It was about the size of a ping pong ball if all of the sudden the ping pong ball had become oblong and brown.

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