one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

Not really sure where to begin, but I guess I have to start somewhere...

Currently there is a lobster in one of our toliets. Yes, a lobster, and not a fake one either, one from good ole harris Lobster and Steak night. That was all Knowlton's doing, being that I guess there has been a prank esque war going on between us and them, of course we are going to retaliate, but you would have to ask Jess for more of those details, I was busy having probably a tid bit too much fun with my orgo models.

Orgo has seriously consumed my life these past few weeks, well that along with Chinese 401, Invertebrate Bio, and 3D Art:red/constructive. I really enjoy all my classes, despite the way too many late nights I have been up already. Sculpture (3D art) is so crazy, today we had a live model--sculpting a human figure and trying to grasp its gesture in 15 minutes is probably one of the hardest things I have ever done, I have so much respect for sculptures. As much as I would love to just go back to 2D drawing, the 3D stuff it is great, I am learning a lot and seeing art in a whole new way.

Everything is slowly coming together. Meaning my routine, some what planning of my life/summer internship/various clubs/hospital volunteering, and decorating my room (yes I have things on my walls! Actually all of you are up there, in one picture or another).

Third floor smith is awesome! The entire floor is made up of great people, oh! and you all will never guess who just moved into a room at the end of the hallway...Sarah Mellstrom! She was living in JA, but I guess it was too loud-- KB 405 has reunited, which is really really odd, but to be honest I don't really see her all that often. Jess, Ally G., Iwi, Jeff, Alice, myself and whoever else is around tend to hang in the hallway marjority of the time, just goofing around, watching Ally do bridges and cart wheels, and Jess with her signature handstands. The other night Ally, Iwi and I went star gazing on the green, lots of fun, and it made it even better when two people were convinced we all were having sex-- "omg, who is that? are they having sex? There is like 5 of them. Shut up, shuuutt upp, they are having sex!" The three of us were just giggling like no other. Thursday and Saturdays have been pretty drink filled, as you all saw from our drunken post, but all in good Smith fun.

I think that pretty much brings you all up to date at what is going on here. Nothing to too crazy, but good times with new people and thus new friends. oh! Allison is having a unbirthday party, since she can't celebrate her bday in the summer with conn people, and it is an Alice and Wonderland theme party (hence the un part), Jess and I are going to be Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dee, so that should be rather entertaining. So happy to hear you all are having fun abroad times! Keep up with the new adventures and experiences! I am sure Jess and I will inform you of anything exciting that happens in our Conn bubble world. Miss you all!

peace and love, Rach

Fotos

So, I sent out a mass email with the address to get the photos, and then learned that you can create websites with lots of albums right after. So here is a site that has both albums, old and new, for your viewing pleasure:

http://wanderingwalrus.shutterfly.com/action/

Enjoy!

Amanda

so yeah. how do you post a picture? cuz i swear, i have a really really cute one. really. with a bear... yeah. i gotta go now, but i'm going to oktoberfest on saturday! wish me luck! and then krakow, and then serbia and then kosovo!!!!! yikes.

a

never mind i dont think that worked

berlin!

it´s been almost a month?????

how is this possible?

a quick entry before class at 8:45 am -- i thought classes couldn´t get earlier than at conn, but oh was i wrong... 8:45 class here is awful simply because i don´t normally go to bed until 4 am here (and this is normal...wha?)

another weekend has gone by -- well 2 really since the last update, and this week was complete spaniard cultural and social immersion -- all the americanas in the dorm left on various excursions and i opted to stay. and it was awesome, more spanish practice than i can possibly explain, learning lots of cool spanish sayings v. popular among the spanish youth ... etc etc.

couldn´t be happier with my decision to live in the dorm, there are so many people to know and talk to and just hang out, however, most are under 20 which is a little weird, but at this point, details details. However, this social atmosphere could also prove to be a horrible downfall...alas, we´ll see

ok, class time, off to recount my weekend to more gente.
much love to all, i´ve been a complete slacker in my "mass email" attempts -- because these attempts have been basically non-existent... maybe i´ll get on the ball soon,

hope all is well with everybody else in their respective parts of the world! when i show pictures to friends here i´m always saying "this is rose, she´s in germany, this is amanda, she´s in prague, this is mollie, she´s in ... etc etc" down the line...spaniards are mystified by this, i think its because you don´t really leave your pueblo to go to school very often here,
so... anyway, i was signing off...

muchos besitos, cariños!

SUCCESS! (in a very different sense)

so i had a wonderful night last night...so you all know about my crush dave who i was so smitten over last year? well turns out, he noticed me the first day i moved into smith and has liked me. And last night, yea, so we hooked up...YEAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

SUCCESS!

I finally made chocolate chip cookies that taste basically like chocolate chip cookies from home. I don´t think I´ve ever baked them three times in two weeks before, though.

I´m not going to write much here, except that I love hearing about all of your experiences and seeing pictures. I´ve been sending out mass emails, so if you aren´t getting them, let me know.

Yeah, that´s all.

Amanda

for my manderdoodles....

"i'd do anything for love, but i won't do that!"



"no, i won't do that!"

Fair Pragoo

Ahoj kamardy!!

Another week is passing by here in fair Pragoo. My czech intensive class has ended and yet only two of my real classes have begun. My judaism class is with a conservative (and ZIONIST) Jew and my american lit class (preapproved by the english dept) is no longer american lit. Tomorrow I have my first history seminar taught by this old Jewish professor who not only survived the holocaust, but also survived time in prison under the communist regime. That class should be interesting!

I'm a traveling fiend! I went to Berlin with four friends last weekend (and got to see Rose!!!!!! which was so so great and made me so happy), this weekend we're going to Terezin (the "model" concentration camp), next weekend we're going to Istanbul, then a weekend off, then hopefully to Krackow, then my parents come, and then it's almost november! craziness!!

The things that have given me culture shock:
+ Tesco: the crazy, 5-floor supermarket where the people WILL run you down with their carts, the aisles have no sort of order, and the checkout line takes as long, if not LONGER than the shopping itself (no joke), oh yeah and you have to pay for a cart and they are not generous if you get caught without 10 crowns.
+the just generally cold attitudes of all czech citizens. don't expect a smile. and don't expect them to try to speak english. if you get into trouble with czech and try asking "mluvite anglicky?" you're pretty likely to get a glare or strong "NE".
+everyone tries to rip you off and it's almost inevitable that they will.
+the streets are poorly marked so getting lost is part of the experience.
+beer is cheaper than water. it's served in the dining hall, it's in the vending machines in our kolej (dorm) and it's part of every meal. We were given shots of the local liquor (and two tickets for free drinks) when getting onto the boat that our school chartered for a river boat tour of Prague. hard liquor is sold on the street (think hotdog stands filled with alcohol).
+the school class schedule is crazy! and doesn't make any sense, and they don't have a normal bookstore, you go to the small international students office and say can I get a book for such and such class and they get all stressed out and find it in some cabinet for you. they aren't really there to help you, they expect you to take care of yourself.
+Hearing American accents is a new sort of culture shock. When I'm out in the city running errands and whatnot I can pick out an American accent from a mile away.

The things that I love about Prague:
+that despite my ghetto living situation, I am a five minute tram ride from the largest castle in the world and I am a beautiful 30 minute walk from my school (the oldest university in Europe).
+the architecture never ceases to amaze me and I still can't get over the stone masonry work put into all of the cobblestone streets (all) and sidewalks.
+despite the unfriendliness, my valiant attempts at czech sometimes earn me an english word or two from them and/or a sense of acceptance for at least trying. I really am starting to feel at home here. I am starting to feel like I belong.
+despite the lack of street signs or any sort of organization of city streets, I am actually learning my way, getting lost less often, right about directions more often (even without maps) and I LOVE the metro.
+the tourists will be leaving soon!
+only seeing an occasional KFC and mcdonalds. Never a starbucks or dunkin donuts (who I admittedly miss) or burger king or wendys
+Smazeny Syr!! (Fried cheese!!) classic czech food, delicious but bad for you. picture a mozarella stick, but HUGE. mmmmmm...
+In the end, the culture shock is easing up and I am beginning to not even think of it as "Czech culture" vs. what I'm used to or "American culture". Slowly but surely, it is becoming what I am used to and what I love and what I miss when I'm in a different city (i.e. Berlin) and what I look forward to coming home to.

As for now kamarady (friends), I have to email good ol' CC about the craziness with classes over here, but you're all in my thoughts. Know I'm thinking about you, and missing you, and hoping you're happy!

Dobrou noc a nastravi (good night and good health),
A

i heart siesta, and belgians...

overall a wonderful and cuh-razy weekend here in Sevilla. "saliendo de marcha" -- aka going out... it all began with a bunch of pre-drunk friends who had made nice with the free wine from the center's "fiesta" that evening, unconciously deciding to replace dinner with wine. ( i alas was unable to participate due to extraneous musical attempts -- i tried out choir, no dice).

it is 11 pm and here in the residencia, we technically have a "leaving curfew" (very weird and VERY early to go out in Spain), so alas, me, ara (roommate) and jessica (crazy mo.fo. from michigan who doesn't live in the res.) beg to use the bathroom blah blah blah for a min. then be let out. Old spanish guard-dude allows it, i go get ready to go out in about 3.5 seconds, and we leave for the evening. first hit up this bar that "Fabier" (Ara's "intercambio" -- sidenote -- an intercambio is a spaniard who wants to learn english -- his name is really Javier, but when we first saw him we decided he was more like a Fabio, so Javier + Fabio = Fabier ... anyway) took us to when we me with him. So this flock of american girls shows up to said bar, most semi-intoxicated, and we meet 2 spaniards, Fransisco and Enrique (Kike). We start talking, yadda yadda, they buy us some vino tinto verano's ( red wine with fanta limon) and by like 12:30-1 these bars are dying so we leave -- in their car -- which i'll admit was kinda a dumb move -- to go to Calle Alfalfa for more nightlife.

10 wrong turns later, we are finally there, i bust outta the car which was pretty much packed with people and find my friend liz talking to two guapo's (goh-geious men) on the calle and immediately engross myself in the conversation. They are belgians, here on holiday, blah blah blah, 20-30 min. and a vodka/fanta naranja later, Liz, me, Basile (my belgian), Tierr (Liz's belgian) and another girl from the program E'lisha head to this club where I am supposed to meet JBay -- who's from conncoll actually -- me and Basile immediately break off (Dude, this kid is almost 2 meters tall so he takes very long strides, but of course, i kept up...he complimented me later on this ability to walk expediciously) . We don't find the club for another 20-30 min. oops. i don't really mind -- and we don't notice until E'lisha/Liz finally holla at us up the street...w/e.

We then enter le club, which at 2am is kinda dead (its too early). b and i are there for maybe 15 min. and we peace... then a lovely night of walking around the city, talking, getting horrendously lost, taking a taxi to the cathedral, sitting in the plaza, wandering around trying to find a hotel with a restroom in the lobby, more talking, etc.etc. finally, at 5:30 the notion of perhaps returning to respective abodes is in order ... i am escorted home and the evening ends -- overall harmless, romantic and unrealistic. but this is why i love europe...

ironically, the rest of the night was interesting for the other girls, Liz ends up making out with the other belgian in the club post-departure (i actually learned this before i even got home because b's friend called him to make sure i hadn't kidnapped him or something), ara was making out with Kike (who works for CruzCampo -- the major beer here, so now she is haunted by her errors every time we go out...) and Jess ended up making out with Fransisco AS well as some other hombre she's fancied for a while... OH EUROPE....

That was Thursday.

Friday we went to calle betis, bar hopped again, went to a club, met some basque boys -- yes they really do exist -- ara was amazed by this, we talked, were purchased beverages, etc etc (but alas, these boys were totally safe, they had girlfriends but showed us there pics and everything...it was quite cute really and unthreatening). Again, another night that lasted til 6 am.

Saturday we returned to Betis in an attempt to see Basque boys again, no dice, but we did see a bachelorette semi-strip show in the bar from the previous night which, was quite interesting and unexpected, my friend cheryl has pictures of these drunken spanish women and their african stripper man. that night i got home at three...not as bad(or good -- depends how you look at it).

so overall i've been making serious use of siesta, sleeping til mid noom---the weekend (thurs-sun.) routine is kinda the following:
wake up at like 12
eat some "breakfast"
go back to bed from 3-8
dinner
go out...etc etc.

needless to say it makes mondays' pretty difficult, but i really do enjoy my classes here, yadda yadda. Well, now we are off to buy some futbol tickets for wednesday and ara is giving me the evil eye...more to come,
adios amantes,
un beso

I'm lonely (but I ain't that lonely yet)

Nick's in London. Everyone's gone. It's cold here. I rode a horse yesterday.
First time. Look like a natural, don't I? Of course I got the crazy horse of the bunch and he kept trying to run ahead of the pack, but those were actually the most fun parts of the ride. The thought crossed my mind not to stop him and see where he wanted to go (I wasn't in any hurry), but I don't have the guts to pull a stunt like that. I think it's funny I chose the words "everyone's gone". Not really. My heart is still back at Conn. If anything I've learned how lucky I was to have met such great people back home. Everyone on this blog is really grade A. Like this kid
We were together in Australia. The rumors are true. He got a cell phone. Plenty of nightlife. He's doing real well for himself over there too. "I think you'll be pleased at who says hi" he told me. I was. Life here continues with pockets of excitement and gorges of down time. I think I'm drying up. At frist I thought these staccatto sentances were interesting, but now I'm starting to think they're some sort of metaphore for my state of being. No matter how many times I see them, I can't get over how terrific a big furry sheep looks
Did you know that sheep start out tails? Long one's too, like a dogs, but they don't go up. Farmers cut them off cause they get poop all over them. Every now and then you can catch one that they missed, but no pictures exist. Not, at least, from my photo library. I met a french guy named Arnaud, and I can't tell if he's my soul mate, or a really bad influence. It's like one of those people who embodies a lot of qualities you have/could potentialy have, but seeing it in a another person makes you realize the dual nature of them. Anyone ever get that? No? Well I never had till I met Arnaud. I like being with him. it's an affirming experience. This is just some chill guy in Australia
Ok, I'm just about done. Everyone has a very long "books to read" list. If you get a chance, or just want to have a literary orgasm, read On The Road by Jack Kerouac. It's pretty inspirational
Boy, did I choose a bad day to stop sniffing glue :)

This one's for mollie

So I was coming out of cro today and going towards smith when i saw some cute 20 something man get out of his car. When i got closer i realized it was none other than.....SIMON FELDMAN!!! He's got the whole stuble mountain man look going on and i have to admit, its quite nice. Too bad i didnt have a camera, shucks. So Mollie, when you come back, your honey will still be here..hehehe

A Horse

By the way, this is Seb. I couldnt remember my other password, so I just made a new one. I'm Seb and A Horse. Enjoy!

...........

Hey guys, I know I haven't done a post in.......well, never. I just wanted to say hello to all, for those of you guys abroad, I hope you're having a kickass time. For those of you still here, um, nice hats. Stay tuned for more hilarity!

so its currently 2:36 in the morning here at conn and it just started raining (thank you lord bc its been unbelievable hot) and i can't fall asleep so i thought to myself "what should i do with myself at 2:30 in the morning?" and the answer to that question was write a blog post..i dont know why but i just felt like i should bc the last post was a drunken one with rach...this time you are all gonna get a insominac jess....ok, so let's see...i've gotten six new posters for my room (intense no?) got some two van gogh's, a perfect circle poster, a photo print, a klimt, and a lovely picture of bono which my mommy bought for me bc she is one of the few people who understands the odd obssession i have with a band consisting of four 45 year olds. I also have a rug this year (SHOCK!!) even more shocking is that rach has one too..its a thing of wonder. Oh yes, and i have alcohol in my fridge...i think this is the first time ever that thats happened. It use to be me and rach had other people's in our fridge but now i have my own (including other peoples but its more fun that way) I have two wonderful neighbors..Jeff and Iwi are my new loves....and Ally G basically lives in my room(she lives on the fourth floor) so ive decided i should get her a cot to sleep on the floor bc she lays on my carpet all the time..shes on the third floor more than her own. My jewelry empire is still a work in progress though i have sold a few things while ive been here but I do need to beef up production. Ok starting to get tired and noticing that I keep leaving words out of sentences and having to go back and edit so thats a sign that i need sleep (btw, ive been sick so its thrown off my schedule..took a 2.5 hr nap today and woke up not cranky or bitchy!!! it was a first and too bad rach wasnt around at the time to witness my unusual post nap attitude) ok, so good night, sleep tight, and dont let those bed bugs bite! seriously, those bed bugs are killers, bc i definitley have witnessed their wrath and what a mighty wrath that is..Damn you bed bugs!! and ive faded...................................



btw, thanks for the post card drew!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!!! =)

Imaynallan kashanki?

(The correct answer would be Allillanmi kashani. Or if you are not feeling very talkative, Allinmi kashani). Just wanted to post up here the address so you can all see my pictures. Let me know if you have any issues with it. I tried to give a little information about what was going on in each one. Enjoy.

grendelcat333share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8IasWzJuxbML8

Today I got ice cream! And as I have complained to practically everyone, went looking for chocolate chips for about the 10th time and finally found them... only they were the super mini kind and I refuse to work with inferior ingredients. Give me a break. I´d use a bar of chocolate, if I could find that. But no. Of course not.

We walked down Pusaq yesterday, part of the sacred valley. I have some pretty sweet pictures. I also bought a really cool woven belt in Chincheros, where weaving is their specialty. They hand dye, hand spin, and hand weave EVERYTHING. My friend Emma might do her ISP there. I´m still not sure about mine.

Hope all is well... I´ll be writing pretty regularly, I think. I want to do better than I think I can in order to stay in touch... yeah, because that made sense. Ciao!

Amanda

LONDON PICTURES!!

lkajdflk

So guys, right now me and rach are drunk...and i just had a party in MY ROOM!!! okay, i realize that it was only maybe six or so people but still, people were in my room drinking and i have rum and vodka in the fridge! me, jess, quiet girl who only talks when talked to at first and did i mention i am drunk. By the way, i have a new nickname which was christianed by jeff my new lover...MAGNUM (as in the great one..mwhahahahah)....rachel break in time--ok, so jess despite the fact that she is oh so quiet, please we know she isn't, is totally going to conquer the boy down the hall, aka Dave. They will be such a cute couple, and well yea, alcohol does crazy things to you, as in make you feel aaaallllll tingly! Allison and i reminisced, about crazy things while doing shots of my favorite drink, vodka. and omg ally g just crawlled into the room sexally, not clue if that is a word, but hey, good times. so I am off to go down south and whatnot, but did we mention we are drunk? jess is closing this blog entry with a cart wheel, and jeff is taking billy and dawn, their kids, yeah not a clue what they are talking about. so signing off, well posting and then closing, and all that jazz. much love, your crazyh rach and jess

zach and lyman say well hi and howdy, you can figure which is which. they are drunk as well. adios my dears!

hey all! all is well in the land of fish and chips and pints. i only have 5 mins till class, but i'll give a quick update. classes are great. LONG. im not used to having two 2 1/2 hour classes in one day. or three hour classes. also, i have a teacher who harasses me for yawning, so thats not cool, lol. i love being in london. i finally now look right first before crossing the street without thinking about it too much! i really love the people on my program here. there are about 60 of us (including the other program under BADA) living in one block of flats. it's so much fun. they are 30 minutes from where our classes are - but the walk is pretty much just through a huge park. so i will be in shape when i get back! especially with the whole not eating much thing, as now that i am responsible for going and buying my own food, it doesnt happen as often! hehe. last night i went to the globe. that was fun except for the whole having to stand for 3 hours thing. ok, well im off to my dramatic criticism class! more later! love to you all!

La mejor decision de mi vida

Y no miento.

Peru is absolutely amazing. I am not even going to try to explain. Well, I am going to try (oh, and no apostrophes for me, I cannot figure out how to use them on this keyboard. So this is going to be a very grammatically proper post).

Anyhoo, I am sitting here in an internet place in Cusco on la avenida de la cultura, looking outside at the crazy driving tactics of the gazillion taxis through the window. I have had two days of classes so far, which is not so much, but already we are being expected to hold conversations in Quechua. We learned a song yesterday, it goes like this:

Urpicha, urpicha
Maypin wasichayki,

Wasichay, wasichay,
sach(apostrophe)a patachapin.

Which roughly translates to (aggh! no quotation marks either!) Little bird, where is your little house? I live over the tree (I know, very exciting. We use lots of other animals and locations in the other verses, too). What is really nice is that my host mother speaks Quechua, and so does Aleja, who works for the family. She has a daughter named Veronica who is absolutely adorable and who lent me her Quechua notebook the other day.

Speaking of my host family...
Their name is Flores Rodriguez, and I have 3 siblings; Maria Angela, 28, Marcela, 26, and Juan Carlos, 21. And they all like to dance! Marcela actually teaches a specific kind of Bolivian folkdance to a whole troupe, they have a perfomance next weekend that I really want to see. They also have a little puppy named Checho, after the futbol player, who follows me around everywhere I go trying to lick my feet. Or bite them. But he is precioso!

So I have a ton of pictures to share all ready to go on a disc I just burned, but of course the only computer in this room that has a CD-ROM drive is occupied. So you are all just going to have to wait. I have some pretty awesome pictures of el albergue, where we stayed in Ollantaytambo for the first week, and some amazing ones of Machu Picchu.

Sorry about taking so long to get online. I do not really have an excuse, internet here is dirt cheap; the most expensive I have seen is 4 soles and hour (about a dollar and twenty cents), and in Cusco it is usually only 1 sol an hour. Food is pretty cheap, too. We are talking maybe 15 soles for a full meal, which is under 5 bucks. Pretty sweet. Unfortunatley, laundry is costing me 5 bucks per load, which kind of sucks.

The weather here actually is something to talk about. Every night is freezing, maybe 40 degrees, tops. Then by midday it is easily in the 70s or 80s, and it usually rains around 1:30 for about half an hour. But that is lunch time, which basically everyone has off (I mean EVERYONE) for about an hour to go home and eat with the family. And boy, do we eat. They keep telling me I eat like a bird because I can only finish completely 2 of the three courses we have at lunch. Luckily, dinner is usually just an egg with rice, or a slice of quiche, or something relatively light. And I am having no trouble at all being a vegetarian, I actually feel like I have more options here. Definitely bringing recipes home.

Well, I have a lot more to say, but I promised to write email, too, so I am going to sign off for now. Please email me and let me know how you are doing, esp. if you are not abroad. Miss you all (but not too much ;) )!

Amanda

Ahoj!!!!!! (pronounced Ahoy)

JAK SE MATE??? (how are you?????)

Jsem unavena!! (i am tired!)

I'm also trying desperately to retain all the Czech I have been learning in my intensive class. It's almost five hours a day, but today for the last hour we went on a walking tour of the city and our teacher used the new words we learned like museum and theatre and street and such to teach us a little about the city.

I'm living in a small suite (with a "kitchen" and bathroom) with three other girls (all very nice). It's in this budget hotel, but in a great part of the city. We walk to school every morning. It's a good 30 min walk, but it's gorgeous and we love it. I'm meeting new people constantly! Going out all the time. Constantly tired. Walking everywhere. Spending too much money, because we only get breakfast. Luckily everything is so cheap here! I can get an AWESOME dinner out for under $9.

Pictures of you all are up all around my empty bookshelves. No books because no classes yet, only czech for two weeks and then they all start at different, odd times. Speaking of... it's CRAZY getting classes here. I was supposed to be preregistered, but didn't get into anything! I found my way into two of the ones I wanted, but the times are horrible, but so far no classes friday or monday, so lots of long weekends for me!! My suitemate Laura and I are trying to get groups together to go just about everywhere on weekends.

I miss you all!! I've been writing lots of letters so wherever you are definitely keep posting your address! I finally know mine (I accidentally gave my dad the wrong address and the clothes I shipped ended up at the academic building!!)

But this is the right one:
Amanda Rowell 315A
Kolej KOMENSKEHO
Parlerova 6, 169 00 Praha 6
Czech Republic

Alright, I'm off for a nap so that I can go out tonight without having to be carried. But I love you and miss you all and keep posting. It has been awesome to read what everyone is writing!!
love--a

wie geht's

i am the only jew on my program.

I'm here....it's AMAZING....'nuff said...

love to you all

I´m dreaming

Hola mis amores! Estoy aki...

I´m here, and i´m in the process of moving into my dorm, living with another girl from the program, and it´s all been quite surreal so far. I feel like one of these days i´m going to wake up and be at conncoll.

The crazy thing is, my program is 90% female, so i didn´t think it could get much worse...but oh yes, it can. A little worried about the drama that may come about given the redunkulous amounts of estrogen on this trip but, it´s cool. Classes start monday and today we had a fantastic proficiency exam -- it was fine, i guess. Tomorrow we go to the beach, so life is pretty sweet. There are ppl from all over the US here with all different abilities of spanish, so ít´s been intersting to say the least. A little frusterating when you are trying to really immerse yourself in the culture, but it´s cool taking a more "active" role in a group of people -- and it really is an awesome confidence builder.

It´s great having so much independence here, and its been pretty busy, but i love the spanish schedule with naps and late nights, but i´m not sure how stellar the computer/internet situation will be. I´ll hopefully post pictures/have pictures soon of all my spanish adventures, if anybody wants to meet in paris or whatever we´ll see. I´m game for travel, and i´m trying to get to Portugal and most imporatantly MOROCCO! Alas, we´ll see. All in all, its been amazingly fantastic thus far, but my roommate is waiting and getting impatient.

Hope you all are enjoying your time afuera de o en los EEUU!!
Muchos besitos,
Emily