Todo Nuevo

Well, the new semester has come. This is the first new year that I actually felt EVERYTHING would start fresh. I start new classes... new people come....old friends leave... It´s a little refreshing but nerve racking at the same time. I´m a big fan of constants and this year is not one of constants. I like to be comfortable and know what will happen, and this doesn´t happen very often here. So I´m learning to thrive on the uncomfortable situations which I feel is good for me.
I used to love the fact that if I wanted to get things done, I had only to ask any of the brilliant people that I was surrounded by and I would have almost any problem solved, but this last semester a friend showed me the satisfaction that comes with figuring everything out on your own and the huge amount of learning experiences that surround us everyday- no matter how small. I thought I knew that, but then I looked back and realized that it wasn´t the case.

I love my new house and the guys that I live with- we have a lot of fun.

The weather has been getting nice, then it randomly snowed, and now it´s back to "normal." I assume that the weather will start warming up nicely soon, and I´m excited.

Lanzarote- I spent a 5 days in Lanzarote which is one of the Canary Islands (Spain) off of the West coast of Africa. The islands are Volcanic. The weather was amazing there- My body took 2 days of pure beach and made me look like a black man. We rented a car for 2 days and drove around the entire island almost. It was a great feeling to drive for the first time in 5 months although I drove a Kia Picanto- it´s the equivalent to a go cart. Our four-wheelers at home in the States have more power... literally. But nontheless, it was really fun driving for 10 euros for 2 days. One day we went to a national park (Tinyama.....something). It was super touristy, but really was incredible to see the landscape that was formed by a volcano. As far as your eyes could see, there were lava rock formations and the earth that you could see was red. I felt as if I was on Mars. One final remark- we stayed in a hotel that had 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen for 8 euros a night- awesome.

Classes:

Psychology
Bioethics
The Recent World
German I

I really love my classes- it´s good to take Psychology (only had it in High School) and Bioethics is going to be an incredible class because it´s taught by a doctor and a pharmacist and seems to be really clinically based which is great for me.

My last 5 months in Spain will prove to be just as incredible as the first 5 months even with the change of tides.

"Know yourself and you will know the world."

Mia gets 2 birthdays?!?!

It's been 3 years since my youngest sister became apart of our family, and it's absolutely incredible to look at pictures of her then in China and see her now with us. It is really difficult for me to be away when my youngest sister is changing the most, but I know she knows I love and miss her. A lot is going on with me in Spain, but I just wanted to update and wish Mia a happy birthday and let my family know that I have all of the respect in the world for them. What a privilege to be apart of a family that has the will and ability to change the life of a little girl.

Scotish Christmas- it's BALTIC here

I arrived on the 22nd of December to Edinburgh, Scotland where I was picked up by my friend's brother and uncle and taken to Glasgow. The normally 45 minute drive took 4 hours because of a blizzard that had traffic at a stand-still. I was greeted after the long day of flying and driving by my friend Tina's parents with a warm meal of vegetable soup, steak pie and wine. It was amazing to eat food that was really close to the food that I'm used to- meat and potatoes and vegetables> after months of ham and bread and olive oil, it was a welcome change. I spent the night talking to the family and just enjoying myself. The next morning I got up to have a huge breakfast of 4 different types of sausages, eggs, toast and tea. Wow- I go on about the food, but it was so great to have incredible home-cooked food. I just spent that day with Tina's mother in the mall: I had to buy gloves. That night I went out with my friends Tina and Kieran to eat and have a few drinks before catching the bus to Edinburgh with Kieran to spend the night. The meal that I had was Haggis, turnips and potatoes- AWESOME! After some ginger beer and cider, Kieran and I caught the bus to Edinburgh.

I woke up this morning to a blizzard! The snow is everywhere, and I'm excited about being out in it at least for a little bit. The plans for today are to go to the castle and just do a little site-seeing. Tonight, I catch the bus back to Glasgow in order to be there for Christmas day with Tina's family.
Edinburgh seems to be just an incredibly beautiful old city with great architecture. Glasgow is more of the big city with tall building and the bustling crowd.

The plans for my stay are to see the dungeons in Edinburgh and maybe do a ghost tour of some of the local places. New years eve I will be on the streets of Edinburgh. I have to catch the train at 9.20 am to catch my 2 o'clock pm flight from Glasgow to Barcelona. Now I am seriously considering changing my flight to the 2nd in order to just sleep in on the first. We will see how much that change costs and if it's a prudent decision.


Oh yeah! I feel like a moron because I constantly have to ask people to repeat what they say: the accent is still really REALLY difficult for me to understand. If they aren't talking directly to me, I am usually REALLY lost, but usually it's OK if they're speaking to me. Usually I just miss a sentence or two- USALLY. I expect it will just take a few days to get used to the accent- the word differences are a different story.

28 December 2009

Still haven't done a lot of site seeing just walking around and doing a small bit of Christmas shopping. Tomorrow morning we're getting up to visit the castle before I have to go back to Glasgow. Tonight I tried to talk Kieran and Tina into going for the Terror Tour of Edinburgh at 22.00, but only Daryl, Kieran's brother and I wanted to go. Tuesday or Wednesday I WILL DO THAT TOUR!
Today was just spent relaxing around Edinburgh, with the evening spent in Kieran's flat just talking. It's so different for me because most of my previous travelling had been done solely focused on doing the touristy stuff, but a lot of my travels abroad are just doing normal stuff. It's great to spend regular days in Edinburgh.

ACCENT UPDATE: I think I've got the accent under control, but then again I haven't been around anyone except people my age lately, and it's the older generation that gives me problems it seems.
Cheers!