the home-stretch. literally.

the past few weeks have been insanely busy. i slept in today for the first time in weeks and didn't have to work yesterday so i started to relax. it hit me i am COMING HOME TOMORROW and it feels a little crazy. i can't wait to have chic-fil-A, to relax in a bed larger than this negative-twin sized one I have grown accustomed to, to have a nice shower with more than a small stream of water, never ending refills, sweet tea, 3G, long hour long chats with friends and the opportunity to crank out and finish up my law school applications. One of my recommendations has been processed and I am so thankful for that! Now, i just need the next one to come through so I can upload the essays I have spent months working on and be done with the first round. Please continue to keep this crazy process in your prayers.
I had been thinking Susan, a dear friend from UA, was coming Monday morning. Then, Saturday night, while I was getting ready to leave for a Christmas party, she called and said, "You know I come tomorrow, right??" Overjoyed, I skipped to the Christmas party with my roommate, had fun and woke up to retrieve my friend from the airport. Sunday, I did some work while she took a nap, we walked around Retiro, then we met up with Pedro and Beatriz and her kids to see Mission Impossible 924 and get some dinner. Monday, I drug Susan with me to work. She really loved my first class and wanted to slit her wrists during my second and third classes. I was like, "yes, this is my love/hate relationship with my job in a nutshell right here." It was so nice to bring her to the little village in the mountains where I work, show her what I do everyday and to have her join. The students were shy so they actually weren't the crazy animals they can be. Monday night, we made some dinner and my old flatmate came over with his girlfriend for some champagne to celebrate the end of the semester and Christmas and our friends in town. It was a nice time. Tuesday, Susan went all over the city to the museums and other touristy places with Gab's girlfriend and other Brazilian friends while I had the joy of working all day. We met up later that night and went to an Italian place after taking Susan to one of the most important sites in Madrid, El Corte Ingles. Wednesday, once again I headed to work and since I didnt have to work at my afternoon job, we met up for lunch. On Calle Princesa, one of the biggest streets in Madrid, we sat in the sun and had a very stereotypical meal- jamon iberico and queso with patatas bravas and tinto de verano. Yum. Just thinking about it now makes me consider walking back over there for round two. Unfortunately, instead of seeing the city this afternoon, I had to go to Aluche where Spain keeps the illegal immigrants as prisoners and also where you have to go to have your paperwork processed. Though not necessarily easy, I GOT MY NIE! This means I am officially legal to live here and I won't have anything to worry about to get back into the country in January, so this is awesome news. Wednesday night, I was pleased to get all my Madrilenos together at one of the most famous places for croquettas in the heart of the city. We did a tapas crawl, great food, even better wine, even better company. The night seemed to last forever but we managed to make it home on the metro and tell my roommate goodbye before her flight in just a few hours. Great success. Thursday, I was suppose to go into work but jumped at the offer that i didn't have to. Susan and i strolled around and got extremely lost in a maze of an art museum where Picasso's Guernica is hung. After my tour of Monet and his lillies in Paris, I really dont think I will be impressed with any art I come across for a long time. Today, I have absolutely no idea what Susan and I plan to do. Surely she isn't down for laying here all day, but sounds like a perfect day to me.
In just a little shake of a bunny's tail, I will be back in the great peach state. Whoohoo!

cave-diving in the rain and other tales of portugal

Since Spaniards can't go much over a few weeks without taking a vacation, we had a few days off the first week of December. Melania and I found good deals to Portugal and without thinking about it too long, we charged two flights to our beloved plastic rectangles and set off on a great adventure. And let me tell you just what an adventure it was.
Our flight was delayed about 45 minutes due to fog in Lisbon. If this was a sign to prepare us that the weather was going to be horrible our entire trip, we both missed it because everyday we were just as disappointed as the day before that the weather was atrocious. Really. It was freezing (I bought a XXL mans sweater to wear as a dress one day I was that cold. I asked Melania if she was embarrassed to be seen with me and she said, 'who are you kidding? you won't take off your coat all day' and she was right so it was a good purchase!) It was so foggy we couldnt get a sense of the skyline or even see buildings in front of us which was unfortunate. Trying to give Lisbon the benefit of the doubt and blaming the weather on our disappointment in our impressions of the city, we quickly discovered that Porto (with equally poor or arguably worse weather) took our breath away. It rained so hard that the streets were beginning to flood. the next day at the excellent recommendation of weather.com, we didn't pack an umbrella and ended up walking 10 blocks in pouring rain. i didn't even have boots on or a coat so I was drenched rat status and had dripping hair when we finally slopped inside of our destination. If that mental image doesn't make you cringe, it should. it was rough, but we survived. 
     Melanias travel philosophy is a little different than mine, making traveling with her interesting. She likes to "lose yourself" (her way of saying let yourself get lost) and explore the back streets and find the culture of the city buried in its cracks. I suppose this is because she's Italian and there aren't that many monuments, buildings or churches that she's going to find impressive any time soon. I like to hit the brave the tourist packed sites then venture down to find the back doors. We traveled marvelously together doing a little bit of both, waking up early and having jam-packed days. Thursday after landing late, we explored plenty of the city's hilly streets on the hunt for a Portuguese style restaurant off the beaten path. the one we finally found was awesome. recharged after a nice lunch, we eventually wandered in the right direction to our hotel, shopped and wandered around, had a coffee, walked around more and crashed.
Friday, we got breakfast and went to a neighborhood with a tower to see the city and to see the famous bridge, neither of which we could see because of the thick thick fog. we toured the monastery and that's when it hit me just how rich Portugal use to be and just how brave those explorers were. Friday afternoon, we found the greatest art shop ever that was of course closed because it was the afternoon. deciding we really wanted a canvas we had seen in the window, we got lunch nearby so we could go back. the fresh Dorado cooked on the grill a few feet from our nose was delicious. the family-owned hole-in-the-wall asked if we wanted to move to Portugal and teach them all English. The art place was still closed and my theory about how few European businesses are actually concerned about making money was upheld. We mosied onto the church, the castle, more shopping and then more shopping. After stopping by the hotel and getting a quick dinner, we had coffee and desert in the city center and met up with two of Melanias friends for drinks. Interesting intellectuals and intriguing conversation then a midnight stroll to say goodbye to Lisbon and we hopped on the 9:30 train to Porto.

in the neighborhood, Belem

from the tower

bahaha makes me laugh everytime

some of the best fresh fish in the world!

 
The train ride was lovely. armed with coffee, I worked on applications and Melania did stuff for school as we ogled at the sites from our window of countryside, the ocean, adorable homes, dinky train stations and elaborate landscapes. Again, Rick Steve's provided an excellent hotel suggestion for cheap and in an incredible location. Immediately in love with this family owned place, we got our bearings and set off on what was soon to become one of my new favorite corners of the world. Porto is spectacular. Simply a stunning city full of awe, charm, personality and richness. We went across the river to go cave-diving. Not cave diving like you're probably picturing though. this was a port-wine-storage-cave-crawl. Hiking up several streets in the rain (not fun) to get to the first one, we said cheers with our first free tastings. Learning that the best vintage ports are still mashed by barefeet and taking the tour along side Port Wine 101 is a highlight of these last few months. We repeated these last few sentences four times. Free tastings, free tour, protection from the cold rain? We were happy little campers. After Port-cave-crawling, we shopped our way across the river and through the streets of port until we were cozy in bed. Saturday morning the first priority was washing out my lingering Port aftertaste with some strong coffee. unfortunately for Portugal, their coffee is terrible. In our five day trip, I can honestly say out of probably 15 coffees only one was enjoyable. so that's, in a word, pathetic. Saturday we walked and walked through the city and hit two or three tourist must-sees. Then we headed to THE OCEAN. though the chances of me getting pneumonia because I was standing with a coat on, boots in hand and my feet in the Atlantic Ocean, it was definitely worth it. The beach town beside Porto was such a disappointment. Like a little sad ghost town you'd see that was an abandoned movie set or something. Lisbon and Porto both were big in the Christmas spirit with lights and decorations which definitely helped remind me it's Christmas and that I will soon be home! it's so odd this idea to VACATION at HOME but it will pass in no time and I am thrilled! I am not sure who reads the blog and who doesn't but hopefully my ability to post on here will cut down on the amount of updating I have ahead of me and that all you'll have to do is update ME on YOU! More posts to soon follow so look out!

in one of the caves

the river by night. breathtaking.

my sad face with my sunglasses on because it was raining and i wanted it so badly to be pretty outside!

totally obsessed with this city. already cant wait to go back!

Pictures from Hungary

Since I never posted pictures from Hungary and Melania and I are setting off on another adventure together, I felt it appropriate to post the pictures first from our last adventure. It was great company and a really enjoyable time, though we didnt do any touring or anything (scroll down til you find the post on that trip if you missed it.)

Saturday night ramblings

Is it really December 4th? Considering I spent all day December 1st thinking that it was November 31st, I really shouldn't be so surprised. This will be a short post because I don't have much exciting to say. I'll hit the highlights and for details you can comment or shoot me an email.
I am really discouraged about law school applications. I could really use your prayers and your support on this. I have done everything "by the book" and asked two very special professors to write me recommendation letters. I am still waiting on these to be turned in. I have contacted them several times the past few months and I am just really upset that waiting on these letters is the biggest barrier to completing my application as is. I really want to go to law school in fall 2012 and I feel so conflicted that being here in Madrid and trying to do everything to be there in 9 months is nearly impossible. I need to visit Miami, NY, LA and DC to get an idea of the environment, the campus, the students, the classes, etc. And WHEN am I going to do that? When I am home for Christmas, the schools will be closed. I can come back for Easter break, but is that enough time? Ughh. I still have substantial work to do on my part of the applications but I have been so complacent, so busy and completely defeated by this entire letter of recommendation business. Basically, if this next week, those letters could come in, I would really feel soo much better. I know that God's plan is GREAT and that in order to receive his blessings, I have to trust in Him, but it's just not so easy..
Work has been fine this week. Exhausting and challenging, but totally fine. This week I really had the realization that I don't particuarly mind what I am doing, but that I don't particularly want to do it for another year. If I stayed in Madrid another year to do something else, that's a different story. But to teach English to these bratty unappreciative teenagers? No, thank you. I can only do so much to make the class chill, fun and interesting. They have to try and they have to meet me half way. When they don't do any of these three things, the class is essentially torture. We have two days off next week and I will be going to Portugal. I am looking forward to the vacation. My roommate keeps saying, "I need vacation" and all I can think is, 'didn't we just have a vacation? but yeah, dude, me too. i need a vacation.'
I also had a huge depressing realization this week. I land on December 24th in Atlanta and the only thing I want is Chic-Fil-A. But it's Christmas Eve, and Chic-Fil-A will probably be closed. So I will have to wait additional days. It's honestly awful to be in a country without chips and queso, Chic-Fil-A and dryers for your clothes. Yes, those are the things I miss the most, in that order.
I was sad that my website for watching football failed me today and so I can't watch the LSU game. I hope that whatever happens, Bama still gets its well deserved chance to show off on January 9th. I was so tired on Wednesday that I skipped Spanish class and attempted to go to bed early. I even bought Vitamins I have been taking daily for fear of getting sick again. My schedule is so crazy and I really am working constantly. Of course, going to bed early didn't happen quite as planned (it never does), but I did sleep in on Friday for the first time in weeks and it was.. delicious. Yes, delicious is the exact English adjective I was looking for. I have been lounging around in an XL Alabama-Arkansas Pocket-Long-Sleeve T, and leggings. There really is nothing quite like the comfort of this outfit. You can take the girl out of Tuscaloosa, but you can't the Tuscaloosa out of the girl, what can I say?
I worked this morning (yes, on a Saturday) and then didn't do anything I had planned to do today with the rest of my day. Had a lovely deep chat with my roommate and just laughed and did nothing except compare favorite pictures and tell stories earlier. It was a lovely, relaxing day and reminded me of many, many nights like this in college with good friends, which warmed my heart.
I am looking forward to coming home.

That's PARIS outside my window!

Wow, I didn’t even realize that I had forgotten just how magical and wonderful Paris really is. There is no city like it. I landed at eleven, got to the hotel at noon.

Oh wait, I am forgetting some crucial detail. I was running late off very little sleep and a long night the night before with friends and half way to the metro when I realized I didn’t know which of the four terminals in the Madrid airport I had to go to. This is a big deal because they’re different stops on the metro and you can’t simply walk between them. Anyways, I was reading my ticket when I read the sentence, “passengers must provide special documentation for this flight” and I think, “yeah, duh, my passpo… oh no…” and I had a mental image spring to mind of my passport on my bookshelf. I knew I didn’t have it, I didn’t have MY PASSPORT. I didn’t even do a panicked search. I have to get off the metro, ride the metro back to my stop and was literally RUNNING with my Vera Bradley bag until I found a taxi to take me the other four blocks, wait for me to get it and then he drove me to the airport. I told him, “I AM IN A SERIOUSLY HUGE HURRY!” and even the doorman for the apartment looked at me shocked since he had seen me LEAVE for the airport 45 minutes before, when I told him I forgot my passport, he was like, “oh no!!” wishing me good luck and trying to soothe my frantic state. By the time I got to the airport and sat at the gate for 30 minutes before take-off, I felt a little stupid for having such a huge panic attack, but SERIOUSLY, how was I so stupid?? ROOKIE MISTAKE. I have never been so happy to hear the words, “Hello and welcome to Iberia flight 2342 to Paris Orly” because I really did not think I was going to make it for about an hour. That’s what I get for not drinking coffee before I left.

I’ll provide you with the itinerary of my three day trip to Paris. I think I deserve a pat on the back for all my energy and let me tell you, my feet STILL hurt from walking all OVER the place. It really was amazing though. So, so amazing.

With a few pictures. The rest to follow on Facebook!

Thursday: got to the hotel, Dad came over from the convention center.

            -We headed to Musee Rodin, the famous sculptor who did the Thinker and one of my favorite artists of all time.

           -Next was Musee Orsay, the world’s best collection of impressionism, my  favorite genre of art and Dad’s too.        

           We grabbed lunch and a coffee  there and made our way to all our favorite artists. Infamous canvases  you can’t even really believe you are actually standing 2 feet away from filled my mind and are still swirling in my dreams.

I wasn’t suppose to take any of those pictures, and even a random woman looked at me judgingly and said, “you know you’re not suppose to take photos right?” and I was like, “uh, you don’t work here and I am sneaky. You wish you were this sneaky.” It bothered me the rest of the day. I have AWESOME photos so it was worth it. One kid CHUCKED his pacifier at a Rodin statue. I wonder what Mrs.Twisted-Panties would have said to that kid's parents. This is the foggy view of the Eiffel Tower on our way to the hotel.

          -Dad had a meeting, I shopped around then joined Dad in his next meeting.
          -Dad, two guys Dad is doing business with and I headed to Dad’s favorite  restaurant in Paris by the Bastille for amazing seafood and typical Parisian style. We said what we were thankful for and had a nice time.   

          -I got a banana-nutela crepe after dinner. The crepe is worth the cost of any flight to Paris. There IS nothing     better in the world than that. Seriously.

           

Friday: Dad woke me up for a kiss goodbye. We were together I think like 15 hours,  but it was amazing just to see him and to be together on Thanksgiving. In Paris, much less.
I let myself sleep in until 9:15. I have been going non-stop and needed 7 hours of sleep. I checked out of the hotel, went over to the convention  for about an hour, had a cappuccino and found a hotel close to the                                     Eiffel Tower to stay in that night. Went to that hotel, checked in and headed out for my jam-packed day.

1.     Musee Mormattan- Monet: fabulous collection of Monet, including his palette and some letters he wrote to friends asking for money when he was super poor. I stayed here in awe for hours. There was also a Cross exhibition, my new favorite neo-impressionist.

2.     Musee L’Orangerie: Monet’s infamous Lillies are installed here. The most impressive art I have ever seen. This room of paintings sucked the air out of my breathe and totally blew me away. I was enthralled. Monet is my favorite artist of all time and it was wonderful to see these works in real life.

3.     Exploring of the gardens and Plaza Concorde. Had a beignet for lunch just because I could.

4.   Sainte- Chappelle: the stunning cathedral that tells the Bible story from Genesis until the Apocalypse in stained glass, 6, 500 square feet to be exact with 1,100 different scenes. So incredible.

 5.   Notre Dame- I was trying to find my way there, just walking around and sort of guessing about the direction. I turned the corner and there it was. After it had already took my breathe away by its proud glory, I walked toward the huge cathedral and saw this sign pointing literally straight at it. I was like, "wow, so helpful. thanks, sign." The Christmas tree at Point Zero- literally the center of France and where everything got started, was a really nice touch and made me excited for everything December has to offer.  The stained glass there isn't too shabby either...

6.    Shopping- this was a MUST. It was Black Friday after all. I got my first Christmas gifts this trip! Whoo! 

7.     THE LOUVRE I had to push myself to do this. My feet hurt and all I wanted was a nice relaxing dinner with a glass of Bourdeaux and a bed. Realizing I HAD to c'set la vie, I grabbed a hot hot and cheese sandwhich, very yummy and typical from a nice little cart and pressed onto the ridiculous collection of the most famous painting in the world.

8.     Beyond exhausted, a little rest at my hotel then I climbed the Eiffel Tower.  I was standing in front of a really great family who made the lines go by faster and the entire experience much more enjoyable since I had been alone all day long.

Saturday: Armed with six hours of sleep, I got up, had about 4 croissants because they’re so amazing and a drop of coffee (not nearly enough) I headed to take a tour of the Versailles Palace.

Because it was the best weather yet, I braved the 289 steps of the Arc de Triomphe and got some great pictures some Chinese/Korean people wanted pictures with me, I think they thought I was a celebrity or             something. Anyways, it was definitely worth the calf burning. I wish it had been a clearer day, but it was the best weather by far so no complaining came out of my mouth!

Determined to have a less busy day, to relax and enjoy Paris, I walked along the Champs-Elysees and shopped, then enjoyed a wonderful meal.
There's so much I didn't get a chance to do, but I feel like I got quite a bit accomplished with the time I had. I think I deserve a pat on the back. 

I went over to the convention to help with taking down the booth and somehow Pedro, Werner and I got stranded in the basement of the convention center with all the loading people and I really thought we might get murdered down there. Over an hour later, we finally figured out where we needed to go, loaded the van. Leaving Werner to finish up on his own, Pedro and I jetted to the airport for our flight.

I caught myself feeling ready to come HOME. One the way to the airport, I was thinking, “I can’t wait to be home.” That’s why there is the quote above and the title of the blog from that same song. Atlanta is home, LA feels like home, Tuscaloosa is home, York is home and now, Madrid is home.

And it really does feel good to be home. 

Like Barack Obama said, 'Yeah, It's time for a change"

It was a whirlwind of a weekend. I ate and drank great Hungarian food but didn’t get a chance to really see the city during the day or do anything touristy so I simply must return. I liked Budapest from what I saw, but I prefer Vienna. I didn’t like how there was no one on the streets after about 5:30 pm and that it got dark so early. I imagine it would be odd for me to live in a large city without the liveliness of nightlife filling the streets. It was wonderful to be with great family friends and to get out of Madrid for a few days.

Melania and I nailed down our plans for our break from school the first week of December- we are going to Portugal! I am SO excited. We will fly into Port and fly home from Lisbon, so we will really have an awesome time. I cannot wait already.

Of course, I am missing Dad and really upset I am not in NYC like I usually am this time of year. Especially since we didn’t go for Thanksgiving last year, it seems like it’s been forever since I had a traditional according to the Brown’s thanksgiving. BUT I have super exciting news! Dad is in Europe and I will get to see him on Thursday! Again, I asked off for work (I am the worst part-time employee ever) and was told it was fine so I will fly to Paris on Thursday and have Thanksgiving dinner with my Daddy. I. Am. So. Excited. I have been thinking for about two weeks now that I wouldn’t be able to go, so this is truly spectacular news and I am thrilled.

The first change is the melancholic/weird feeling is gone! I think it was getting out of Madrid for some fresh Hungarian air, reminding myself that I don’t need to be stressed because God is in control of this law school ordeal and knowing that I will see Dad in just a few days. There are other HUGE plans and really, really exciting things to look forward to. Paris. 4 days in PORTUGAL. Susan is coming. I am going home! Alabama football. #ROADTO14 thennn Ansley is coming in February! I was starting to second guess a few tough decisions I had made these last weeks and those doubts have totally gone, which is awesome.

When I landed, braved the rain in Madrid and made it up to my apartment door, I put in the key and it wouldn’t go in all the way. Super confused and feeling crazy, I had to ring the doorbell to get a roommate to let me in. This guy, one of the two new people from Panama that just moved in last week, informed me that over the weekend the locks were changed and the Italian that I really hated was KICKED OUT. I heard the rest of the story from the new guy and shared with him all the reasons why I disliked him and my excitement over this news. Totally overjoyed, I texted Cande (the Argentinian that I love) and our old roommate who moved out because he disliked the Italian so much. I am more happy than ever that I decided to stay here and stick it out. I have a WONDERFUL sofa, a new bookshelf and my ideal room (minus a white board, coffee table and art on the walls but hey, I am making progress!). I am seriously SO EXCITED that he is gone.

Yesterday, I came home to a NEW roommate in the Italian’s old room. A guy from France who is working here for a software company or something. He seems pretty cool. We will all be here til July so I hope that as I get to know him and the other two Panama people better, I like them more and continue to feel actually at home and safe here.

I am finally use to my crazy schedule and most importantly, the levels these kids are at. I can tell that my lessons are almost at the exact right level- there are words/phrases students don’t know, but there are also enough words that they do know for them to understand the reading or worksheet.

THIS IS PROGRESS, my friends!

For you readers over the age of 25 or for those who didn’t catch it, the title is from “Lolli, Lolli,” a rap song I listened to this morning walking to school.

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date

Determined to catch up on blogging, expect several long posts to come. First of all, about my weekend. I took off Thursday from work and went with Melania to Budapest, Hungary to help with a conference for Biolase. We were running super late on the way to the airport and totally relieved when we got there and checked in with no problems. So relieved actually, that we overestimated how long we had to grab something to eat and again ended up running toward the gate as the plane was already boarding. Running late was a theme of the entire weekend as you are about to read. Melania blames it on being Italian, I blame it on my mother who was never on time anywhere. We ended up getting on one of those moving sidewalks and having to run in the opposite direction to catch the flight. It was quite a sight.

On the plane, I was fortunate enough to sit dead center in a group of about 30 Spainards going to Hungary for a ballroom dancing competition. It was like a scene out of Home Alone. They wanted to be my best friends and share their life story and I was dying to catch some ZzZ’s. Obviously, that didn’t happen at all. They switched seats, talked, told stories, laughed, made fun of each other and screamed while I journaled with my ipod on loud yet still learning Spanish. What a flight.

            Thursday night, we checked into the hotel and Melania took me to one of her favorite restaurants with traditional Hungarian food. Wow, it was delicious. The red wine we had was very distinct and really great. We met up with some of Melania’s friends from when she studied in Budapest for two years. There was a blur of Italian, Hungarian, English and Spanish, which was really incredible. The girls were awesome and we had a really good time. We were the last people to leave the bar and by the time we said goodbye, I thought they were my long-lost friends too. It was a really nice night and the first time since I have been here I really relaxed and enjoyed myself.

            Going off very little sleep, it was time to get up and get to the University where the congress was being held. At breakfast, I found friends from Biolase and we headed off to get everything set up. Once the banner, lasers, registration table etc organized, people started appearing to register. Registration went pretty smoothly, mostly because Melania speaks Hungarian and also because the four hands doing it really helped quite a bit. The first speaker was a good family friend from Rome, so we sat in on his presentation and the next course also.

Next thing we knew, it was time to break for dinner. There was a gala that night and my boots had broken earlier in the day. Deciding that we had just enough time to run to the mall to buy me new boots and to get a necklace for Melania’s dress, we sprinted to the mall. Because I cannot read my watch, we ended up thinking that we were a complete hour ahead. As we are about to pull up to the hotel thinking we have 15 minutes to change and get to the gala at the hotel, Pedro calls wondering where we are. We were a complete hour late!!! HORRIBLE. We made up for it though by being the last people to leave. As we finally decided to go to bed around 4 am, they were setting the room up for breakfast.

Again, the next morning came way too soon. Weary and exhausted, we had another full day of laser courses ahead. The day flew by though. Interesting courses, wonderful speakers, awesome snacks and coffee for survival on breaks. With our break after the certification presentation and cleaning up, we went to get a suitcase and some other things that Melania left with a friend two years ago. Opening that thing up was like finding some hidden treasure! Again, barely making it in time to the hotel in time to change and head to dinner, we were rushed and running late. But we did it. All the speakers, several of the attendees and all the staff headed to another recommendation by Melania to have a traditional Hungarian meal. The food was wonderful and the company even better. We had a great time and weren’t yet willing to say goodbye. More drinks at the attendee’s hotel and a nice night stroll across the river to see the infamous bridges and city skyline. Walking through the city watching our breath in front of our faces, we were reflecting on what a greet weekend it had been. Melania said she’s like the rabbit from Alice And Wonderland. Exactly how rushed the whole weekend was! Just 6 hours after getting back to the hotel, we headed back to Madrid. 

if there was such a disease as dish-washing disease, i would have it

hello long lost friends. I knew it was time to blog when people were contacting me telling me they missed it. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, so here it is, a new post. i haven't blogged not just because i have barely left room in my schedule to breathe, but also because i don't feel like i have much exciting to say. but here is the full update more or less.
This week has been so ridiculously insanely busy. I am thinking to myself that I have really done it this time. I have this horrible, horrible habit of tasting the slightest hint of free time in my schedule, then seeking something to fill it. Generally what happens is, I find more than one or two things to fill that free time and all the sudden, I no longer have free time and instead of being content and happy, I am slammed into "overwhelmed" mode with all the things I have freshly committed to. Well ladies and gentlemen, old habits die hard and that's precisely what has occurred again. I will give you updates according to whats on my plate, how incredibly stressed, blessed, excited, overwhelmed and ridiculously crazy I am. Did I mention that I am thrilled to have these opportunities? Because I am. I am just at that point where I am wondering, "all this might not have been the best idea you've ever had, Steph..." So here it goes: my plate.
            The meat- SCHOOL/WORK. Working at the two high schools 16 hours a week. I accepted a second job at a private English academy in the same town as the high schools. I will be working there 8 hours a week basically from 3:30-5:30 everyday. This is exciting because its a lot of extra cash and a really cool working environment. I will also be helping the owner do some administrative stuff, getting organized and hopefully further developing the educational program of the school. Opportunities to learn galore and potentially expanding my hours in a few weeks. There are several other teachers that he has recently hired. Three boys my age from California that in the same Auxiliares program as me and two others that I haven't met yet. Anyways, if you factor in the 32 hours a week I am actually working plus time to grade and plan, that alone is most of my day and week.
             The first side- vegetables- because I know they're good for me, but the rewards are unseen and so far away- Law school applications. These puppies are due in two days in theory. Problem with that is, I am still waiting on some recommenders to get in their letters required to submit my applications. This is a double-edged sword, I feel like I can be a little lazy on my side since I can't even submit them without the letters, but at the same time, I should have everything done. I have been working furiously for hours and I've been so pleased with my progress. Like any huge task, anytime I start to feel like I am making substantial progress, I realize how much more I really have to do. Please be praying for energy on my side, speediness on the side of my recommenders and for a miracle on the side of the admissions boards. That would be one stacked prayer, but incredible when answered!
             The second side- fruit- because it tastes sweet and looks pretty- travels. I am headed to Hungary this weekend and I am so excited! I was planning to go to Paris for Thanksgiving to meet Dad, but it seems like he will not be able to come to Europe until December. Regardless, I have a few days off in December that I need to plan asap. I also got the super exciting news that my dear friend Ansley booked her flight to come see me in February and I could not be happier than a clam! I am so excited. In just a few weeks, my friend Susan will be here also. I am totally thrilled that I am going to have visitors. I'm looking forward to nailing down some of these upcoming travel plans so that we can do everything we want to do when they're here. Dad and I also have to figure out what we are doing when and where we are going for the two weeks I will be home. It's looking like my best option is to ask off of work for the second week of January so that I can celebrate his birthday with him and friends in Alabama and also we can do some law school visits. I also need to book my plane ticket from ATL-Madrid in January and decide if I will come home in April or stay here.
            The carbs- what I enjoy the most but shouldn't indulge in- I am attempting to maintain this blog, my other blog, emails, FB, my journal, my photo journal, spend time with friends here and go out. Not to mention, I really want to spend several hours everyday studying Spanish because my night classes and homework isn't enough. November is suppose to be all about working my tail off and improving my Spanish, but I haven't impressed myself just yet. Got to get better about seeking opportunities to practice and I must stop using English. I must. I also made the mistake of starting on Modern Family, which I am madly in love with and want to watch every episode produced to date.
           The icing on the cake- a few of the obnoxious things that are going on that I really wish would figure themselves out or disappear or both. With the prospect of visitors, I finally made the decision to buy a sofa-bed i had been eying from Ikea for 100 euro. I went last week with a friend to Ikea, picked out our items, pushed them to the cashier, paid the ridiculously large sum for everything and then pushed the purchases to the Transporte counter to have it all delivered. On the metro on the way home, I studied the receipt just to realize that I bought the exact same sofa, except it was the regular sofa version and not the sofa-bed version. Long story and four phone calls with friends to speak Spanish for me later, I went back to Ikea on Saturday to get the right couch. They claim they will call me tomorrow for my bank account information to refund the money. We will see if that actually occurs. In the meantime, my room does feel like home and I am really looking forward to the Ikea purchases as new additions to cleanse my zen and make for organization and a more efficient use of the space. I cant wait to have an area to lounge when I don't need to be sitting upright in my plastic desk chair.
           Also in this category, we have my living situation. I made a bold decision last week to stick it out and settle in here (part of that decision was purchasing the sofa and bookshelf to make this room feel even more like home). Well, the two empty rooms in this apartment have been sold to two Panamanians. They move in on Wednesday, so hopefully they will be cool and we will all live in peace and harmony. Also, there has been some hushed chit-chat among the Italian (this is the roommate I don't like, don't trust and realllllly want to move out like he is claiming he will in December) and our landlord about money so maybe he will be evicted or something soon. That would be GREAT.
            Tomorrow, I have a meeting with the Ministry of Education about my temporary residence card. Then I have another meeting on Tuesday with the police. Hopefully after these two meetings, my legal status in this extremely unorganized country with no regard for customer service will be finalized and I will be a legal alien AND more importantly, that this legal alien will be able to return to work here in January. It will be AWESOME to get that finalized for good.
            Thursday night I came down with the flu, but I think I am over the worst of it now. I was basically in bed for three straight days, totally useless and couldnt even lift my head. Terrible. Hope to be fully restored to healthy very soon.

So it turns out, I don't really just have a lot on my plate, I actually have the entire food pyramid. but you know what, if it's all stuff I am excited about, then all the stress is good stress, right?! Just gotta get over this flu, keep a steady IV of caffeine and power through!
I am convinced that with the 30 minutes a day or so I have to spend washing my dishes, i could really have a better handle on everything I have going on! It's amazing really how much I miss little things like a dishwasher.

distance schmistance

For the last year or so I have been enamored by this word: distance. A dear friend's quote under her Facebook profile picture (when that was the layout way back when) was "laughter is the closest distance between to people." I do not think of distance in terms of meters or miles or feet but instead in something else. Perhaps I measure distance by effort. Or willingness. Or ability to demonstrate love.
   For the last week or so, I have been struggling with the idea of how exactly to put these feelings into words. I do not want to have a depressing post, but I also want to express something that's really been heavy on my heart, especially these last two weeks. I spoke on the phone with an ATT representative who gave me some really great news. She told me that any incoming text messages are included in my unlimited text plan. THAT MEANS YOU CAN TEXT ME FOR FREE (to my US number). I have 50 texts to send back all month for a measly $10. But if you have something you want to say or tell me and you're afraid you'll forget, you can shoot me a text right then and there!


Other ways to get in touch with me include:
-Both of my email accounts come directly to my Spain phone. Though, it seems that stephaniebrown.ua@gmail.com is more reliable. My phone buzzes when an email comes in like it does for a text or anything. I do my best to reply within that same day and am usually pretty good about providing you with an actual response as if we had just had a phone conversation.
-If I am at home, I am on skype. You can quickly download skype and create an account at www.skype.com. Even if you do not have a webcam, Skype chat is more efficient that FB chat and with less potential people chatting with you that you do not want to be chatting with. To set up a specific time to skype, just email me and we will coordinate. My skype name is stephanieebr.
-If I am at home, I am also usually on Facebook chat. FB is also on my phone so if you write on my wall, I receive it immediately. I am trying my hardest to weed out stupid messages from groups, etc and pay close attention to my messages inbox, so if you send me a message there, I will get it and reply like with email.
-My Spain phone has a Twitter application so if you @reply to me, I will get it immediately.
-You CAN call me, like normal, if you ever need ANYTHING, just like any other day.
-You can download one of the following and text with me for free back and forth from my Spain phone. The apps are called: WhatsApp and LiveProfile. If you download these apps, I will tell you my number/pin so that you can search and find me.

Maybe this list seems excessive. It demonstrates that I am not really necessarily thousands of miles away. The biggest barrier between me and you is the time difference. 9 hours for California, 7 hours for Central time zone and 6 hours for the Eastern time zone (starting when you guys turn your clocks back, until then it's one hour less since we turned our clocks back last week). I post these ways for us to communicate because I am frustrated with feeling like I am making efforts to remain close with the people that I care about and love so dearly and I don't quite feel like I am being met half way. I am not even sure who subscribes to this blog so I hope that no one feels targeted by what I am about to say. That is not the point of this post. The point was to make some clarifications and to continue to post about my everyday life here. Clearly, things that are heavy on my heart (and this is) are part of my life here. These last few weeks have been incredibly, incredibly stressful. I know I haven't blogged or posted about these things, but they are things I would LOVE to be telling my friends.
      Just a few words of encouragement from an email or a funny story from Tuscaloosa does quite a bit to alleviate that stress. I opened a bank account on Friday. After a lengthy battle with the laborious and ridiculous process for filing for temporary residence (necessary to prevent me being kicked out of the country when my visa expires in 60 days and also necessary for getting paid by the government, who is my employer), I finally got the paperwork started on the process. Though this is still quite an ordeal and there is no estimate of when I will have the identity card and number, I have done all I can do at this point and that feels really great. One of my trips in November is planned but the other one still needs to be planned. I got my LSAT score back and am now knee deep in applications. I am hard-pressed to decide which is more stressful. In case you have some odd notion that I am just frolicking around Spain, carefree and living easy. Between the madness of work, Spanish classes at night, law school every second I can force myself to work on it, and the other 123 I am always juggling, I've got a bunch going on (by choice, I should add). It's not that I don't understand that you guys aren't crazy busy too, because I know that. I know that things are happening with you and stressing you out and that things are crazy in your life too. That's why I feel this hole, totally clueless and uniformed and not for lack of trying. I'm not angry or trying to bore you with complaints, I'm just a little hurt.
Not that I am not doing well here or not making friends. They're just not y'all.
 I still need y'all is what I am trying to say.
I cannot put into words how much I have enjoyed sending novels back and forth with friends. Some of the conversations I've had on Skype these last few weeks have been some of my favorite conversations I've had in years of friendship.
Just because I am in Europe does not mean I am far away.

i am beautiful! and other nonsense from school

Sorry its been a while since I posted. I have Monday and Tuesday off from work, so hopefully I will be able to get caught up on blogging, work on law school applications and relax. I have officially completed Season 6 of Criminal Minds and can't wait to get up-to-date onto season 7. I do not remember the last time I stayed in bed all day so I have really relished this.
The last two weeks have been surprisingly stressful. I had spent a significant amount of time working on lesson plans for my week of classes just to be derailed completely in class. My first Monday alone with the students, the white board FELL on me and caused the brand-new AV outlet to fall completely off the wall and sent all the students into an endless laughing spree. one of the punks that is my favorite in that class said, "hey, profe, i won't tell anyone you did it. don't worry." then he paused and thought for a second and came up with this idea, "actually, i'll tell everyone I did if you let me take you out to dinner..." The rest of that week was rough. If the lesson plan was too easy, the kids were bored and hyper and chatty. If the lesson was too hard, they were discouraged and quiet as a mouse, embarrassed to ask questions or to express their confusion. This results in me speaking for 50 minutes straight and is miserable for all of us.
    All of the teachers and my boss at both schools are wonderful. They have asked numerous times, "how are you doing?" or "is there anything about your schedule that you want to change?" and i want to say, "what schedule!?" Either due to the strike, the students having a test, or a holiday I haven't even had a full week of all my classes. Some hours, I rotate between several teacher's classes. Other hours I only have half of the class and then the other half the following week. It's amazing that between the two schools the same level is actually either better or worse English. It's just going to take a lot of time to get use to which class is which, the students in the class, their age, their level of English and what they are currently studying. I don't expect to have that down until Christmas. If my schedule changes in January, I am going to cry for days. On Thursday, a teacher at JF I have barely even spoken to came up to me and said, "you ready for class?" Trying to play it cool, I said, "yeah, definitely." I don't even know her name! I definitely had no clue we have class together. She told me that I will be in her class every 3rd week. OHH, that explains it, okay... How complicated and crazy.
    The high schools I am working out seem deprived of everything I consider to be HIGH SCHOOL. There is no football team, no chorus, no assembly area for school-wide meetings or pep-rallys (or anything to rally for other than the strike). Actually, I sort of take that back. The schools are like labyrinths and every door is locked so for all I know there is an assembly room or gymnasium behind one of those doors. I doubt it though. Even the cafeteria is about the size of a café and serves mainly different types of sandwiches, snacks, fruit and coffee. There isn't any concept of detention or Saturday school. Absolutely no dress code exists. The teachers or staff do not wear name-tags or IDs. The halls aren't lined with lockers because its the teachers that switch classrooms, not the students. There are small lockers in the rooms themselves. The rooms are bare with nothing on the walls, a chalkboard and echo horribly. At LC, Melania and I have our own room for English that has a whiteboard and projection screen (that I almost destroyed but was salvaged thank goodness) and we are working on decorating it. Anyways, I am getting use to how incredibly different it is. When I was walking to school the other morning, there was a group of kids sitting around a hookah in a circle on the sidewalk smoking it. I was like, "did that just happen?!" Apparently, one of the English teachers told Ryan (the other tutor at JF), "well, we are a public school and we don't really have any power over our students. We can't make them come to class." this was the explanation he provided when Ryan asked why so many kids just linger around outside or outside the gates of the school on the street. Can you imagine if you could have gotten away with that in high school?! The teachers even have this lackadaisical attitude. On Thursday, a teacher came by Ryan and I to tell us that she was feeling sick and planned to go home. She told Ryan, "if I'm not here tomorrow, you can just take the afternoon off early." Ryan and I were speculating, if she's not there and he's not there, what are the students going to do during that time?! It's a little crazy, that's for sure.
The students that I have that are great are REALLY great. Some of these 12-13 year olds are the cutest things you've ever seen and are so willing and eager to learn. I love it. I can see myself in some of these girls that sit on the front row wide-eyed, furiously writing down everything I say and raising their hand inquisitively the entire 50 minutes. One boy walked in class and instinctively sat down in his chair in the back. Then, he thought about it for a second, took his bookbag and sat down proudly on the front row with a huge grin on his face. as other students started trickling in, he exclaimed, "I AM BEAUTIFUL!" as I was saying, "wow, yes you are!" this girl next to him hit him on the arm and said, "you meant to say YOU'RE beautiful, STUPID!" the little boy's face turned as red as a tomato and he shrank down in his seat with embarrassment. All I could think was, "you are the most adorable thing I've ever seen and I love you." One of the other boys in this same class was chatting back and forth with some of the girls in the back. They had their English-Spanish dictionary out and after almost 10 minutes finally crafted a question for the boy to ask. This boy has long blonde hair and he read the paper the girls had given him and asked, "do you like boys with bangs?" as the girls started snickering he realized what he had asked and was mortified. It was hilarious. He had already asked if I had a boyfriend and anytime I answered something that pleased him or that he agreed with, he would shout "YES!" as if he was checking off points on our compatibility report. Oh, 13 year olds...
     The 16-17 year olds are a whole different story. The first week, they were relentless on the things they were saying. They've calmed down for the most part. It's really funny how old, decrepit and stupid they think I am. I had passed around a roll for each student to write their name down.I was passing back their homework from the week before and I called out, "Paula." The girls told me she would be there in a minute, so I left Paula's paper on the desk she usually sits in. At the end of class, she came up to me and told me she needed to sign the roll. I watched her write, "Eva..." and thought to myself, "yeah, I remember when I thought I invented the write-your-friends-name-on-the-roll-trick. yeah right." So amusing.
    Last week, as I was passing out worksheets, I had a moment when I thought, "is this seriously what I am doing?! teaching english. in spain." When I was a little girl I always thought I would be a teacher. Actually, I was registered at Bama Bound as secondary education. I wanted to be a Spanish teacher. It's crazy to think that for the last five years i have rarely thought about that dream because I've been so thrilled about chasing new dreams that I thought were better or more important. Yet, somehow, here i am passing out papers, a stack of copies, a stack of things to grade, note cards with names on each, a lesson book and lessons to plan. I sit in the teacher's lounge during break and have coffee with milk brought to me by the lady who has all the teacher's orders memorized. Between classes, I hang out in the English department and order copies to be made in the front office. It's so strange. I am not old enough to be doing this! But that doesn't mean I am not loving it!

by the hair on our skinny chin chins

Friday, I had the opportunity to go with a group of students to a nearby town called El Escorial. There is a huge monastery/palace there from King Phillip- the most powerful man in all of Spain's History. He led the Inquisition from the rooms that I walked through. The palace was HUGE and very impressive in every detail- like wooden doors handmade from 100 different kinds of wood and paintings by famous artists in each room. Ryan (the other auxiliar at JF) and I were talking to each other in English the whole time, guilty of not paying much attention to the guide and guilty of not interacting much with the students. It was a group of Bulgarians who are in Collado Villalba for a student exchange. Ryan and I barely managed to find the group in the first place that morning. As soon as we gave up trying to meet up (we didnt have any of the teacher's phone numbers or anything and we were suppose to be there at 9:30 and around 10:30 we decided to go to el Escorial on our own) they found us and got on the train we had just bought tickets to. It worked out nicely. I was so exhausted from a long week, my feet were killing me only half way through this enormous castle and this combination led to me barely paying attention. Luckily, I was technically at work so I dont think it mattered. And if it did, oooops....

After the longest tour of my life, Ryan and I were starving and feeling near-death with exhaustion. The kids pulled out sandwiches from their bags and started eating in the courtyard. Recognizing this meant not eating until the bus got back to Collado Villalba, Ryan and I thanked the professors, said goodbye to everyone and headed off to find food. We stopped by the bus station first to confirm the schedule Rick Steves lists to get to the Valley of The Fallen- a memorial for the Spanish-Civil War. Sure enough, Rick was right- he is always right so we grabbed a pizza at this wonderful little Italian place across the street from the bus station. My pizza was tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, proscuitto and olive oil- best pizza ever! We bought our bus tickets, climbed abroad and were at the Valley of the Fallen fifteen minutes later.
This moment completely blew my mind. This huge valley full of trees on the side of the mountain with a huge cross and huge memorial. It reminded me of something like you'd see in Washington DC but this one was full of religious statues. Ironically, Franco and the father of Facism are buried there with the 50,000 Spanish who died in the war. Does that sit well with you? Because I was filled with the eeriest feeling walking through this huge place. The 30 foot angels of death/facism looking down on me didn't really help.
The bus route only runs one time from El Escorial to the Valley. We got on at 3:15, we get back on at 5:30. There is not 2 hours worth of things to do at this momument. Luckily, it was nice weather so Ryan and I sat in the sun and chatted overlooking this gorgeous valley and then I decided to take a little nap. I woke up at 5:10 and we decided to head over to the bus. We see a bus and laugh at how there are probably a total of 15 people at this thing. Next thing we know, its 5:20 and a huge group of students speaking German boards that bus and it takes off. At this moment, we realize, "uh oh, that clearly isnt our bus. where IS our bus? where are all the people we rode here with on that bus?" I start noticing there are only 2 cars in the entire parking lot and I am having visions of sleeping under a tree at this place. At 5:24 or so we start walking and realize we actually have no clue where we are or where we are suppose to be. We are lost and our one shot off of this mountain cliff is leaving in 5 minutes. Panic totally started to settle in when Ryan spotted the bus up this small hill. We started running and boarded the bus at 5:31. We didn't even sit down before the driver was already driving off the mountain. Talk about a close, close, close call. Glad we went! Really glad we didn't get stuck there.

where's your bus ticket?

For our first weekend adventure, I gathered some friends for a day trip to Segovia. We woke up later than planned, stood first in line for the bus only to discover we needed to buy our ticket BEFORE getting in line, lost our place in line and had to take a later bus... BUT we got there and that was all that mattered. I went with a roommate, the other English tutor (auxiliar) and one of the schools I work at and the other English tutor (auxiliar) at the other school where I work. We had so much fun exploring this quaint little city and laughed throughout the entire day.

I mean, the aqueduct isn't really that impressive. C'mon.

At the Palace- with my roommate. Apparently Disney used this alcazar as the model for Cinderella's Castle

How great is this door knocker?

Aw, our little group! (The palace terrace)

This INCREDIBLE desert that was the strangest and most distinct thing I've ever tasted. Very famous in Segovia- a mix of lemon, cinnamon and marzapan. We split a portion no bigger than a regular cupcake amongst the four of us and still had trouble finishing it- it was that rich. 

The glorious Cathedral.

Walking out of Segovia. The aqueduct in all of its glory. Absolutely stunning. 

Exhausted from walking all over, I came home, ate dinner with the flatmates and crawled into bed in my sweatpants to watch Alabama destroy Ole Miss. When we were down by 7, I caved and paid 20 euros for a instant-watch subscription for a month. It was live TV so I was totally "at home." This week has gotten off to a rough start with my classes, but more on this for the next post! Hope you enjoyed the photos. More to come, I promise. In the mean time, check out this link to a project I am passionate about. I will be finishing my letters tomorrow and I would be thrilled if you would join me in reaching this goal to put a handwritten letter in the hand of every male and female in service this Thanksgiving.

The letters are due to be in the mail by October 28th. I realize that this is not much time but maybe this will encourage you to do it right now instead of putting it on a list and never getting around to it. I hope that you feel inspired by this cause to write at least one letter and perhaps more. Please pass this site, information and idea onto friends and family around the globe. I am encouraging many friends to participate and it is my hope that you will too. I have two friends who will be leaving for Afghanistan very shortly and I can only imagine that five minutes out of your day will mean SO MUCH to them and to their fellow soldiers.
The link to everything you need to know is here: http://thebertshow.com/the-bert-shows-big-thank-you/

Happy writing!