Friday, February 20, 2009

Tiempo libre en España. ¡Qué bien!

Los Europeos tienen mucho tiempo libre, especialmente los españoles, entonces, tengo el semana que viene libre-- otro semana, como casi cada dos meses (este semana se llama semana blanca). Voy manana por la manana a Carnaval en Cadiz por coche con muchos amigos mios-- que divertido. Es el tercer carnaval más grande del mundo. (menos rio de janiero en Brazil)! Estoy muy feliz a ir y mi y me companera del piso tenemos disfraces muy guapa y único! Luego, voy a Extremadura a visitar mi amiga que vive allí, es una región en el oeste de España que posee un gran número de parques naturales, voy por 4 dias al alza, correr, comer, y pasa tiempo con mi amiga, luego nos vamos a Portugal, Lisboa por el proximo 4 dias a conocer Portugal. Tengo familia en Portugal, espero a reunirse con ellos por la primera vez, pero ahora mismo, no estoy seguro si puedo, no tengo un numero de telefono para ellos.
¡Qué pena!

Bueno, tengo un montón de cosas que esperamos con interés la próxima semana. Ahora, necessito comer, envase, y pintar mis uñas, ja, tengo que hacer este cosas en lugar del internet. Voy a escribir sobre todo cuando regreso.
besitos.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

NY Post "comic"



This is the most disgusting thing that I have seen in a long time. People need to see this and do something about it. It had to be a REPUBLICAN news paper to even have the balls to print this. It's times like these that we need to rise up against this blatant racism!

email your thoughts to:
letters@nypost.com

Monday, February 16, 2009

Vee-DAY weekend, 2009

Woooooooooooooooo woooooooooooo woooooooooo... what a weekend!

So much Shizzit happened, I won't tell my stories, instead write generally about things. It would be too much to explain everything, and most of the things that happened, I'd like to keep close to my heart, not made public (don't be disappointed my love). But WOW, it was quite the experience in more ways then you can imagine!

OK, so, here I go:

My good friend BJ, that lives in Paris, met me in Seville. We stayed at a gorgeous place, with a tranquil roof top deck with the most beautiful outdoor day-bed I've ever seen and hammocks. The colors were vibrant, the Moorish wall designs were spectacularly crafted, the sun was hot, and the neighborhood was tranquil. Every morning, I spent the first few sunny hours having my breakfast up there, relaxing, and taking in the sun. It was the most relaxing mornings I've had in a long time. I could have stayed there all day! PERFECT LIFESTYLE!

We went sightseeing, explored small cobble-stoned streets with beautiful patios, ate (paella-- finally-- and lots of chocolate!), drank (mostly wine, some beer), partied, shopped (and spent way too much money, you wouldn't even imagine, and I HATE spending money on clothes, but everything was so beautiful and unique and I have a weakness for dresses and bikini's, ughhh) and we enjoyed each others company. This was the first Valentines Day in a long time that I have been single (well, kind of, tu sabes, no estoy en enamorada). I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT! No stress, no looking for gifts, no disappointments, just enjoying my friends. It was nice. Here are a few pictures of A MILLION that I took.



(above is a passionate singer, not an angry screaming person about to bang a table, ha)

A Valentines Day to remember, in a beautiful place, and more importantly, a weekend with my French girl to remember. I'll see her in France in April! xo.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

15 year anniversary on Broadway!

This week is the 15 year anniversary of my first performance, I was 11 years old and I was cast in a BROADWAY SHOW called, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Looking back, it was a CRAZY time! I was 11 years old, getting a weekly paycheck, not in school (I had a private tutor) performing 2 shows a day and I hated every second of it, MY MOM MADE ME DO IT! I just wanted to be in regular school with my friends!

LOOKING BACK-- it is one of those experiences that are priceless. Who can actually say they were in a Broadway show, had a private tutor AND got paid, when they were in elementary/Junior High School?

I was a performer, on stage 95% of the time, singing, dancing and acting in front of over 500 people every day for over a year! It took me 6 months to learn every song, the dance choreography, and the acting with the other children that were cast, that was the fun part! They gave us meals everyday, got us private transportation from our house everyday (to & from), and they gave our family free tickets to come see us!

What an amazing experience! Now when I tell people (which is hardly ever) that I was on Broadway, they're usually shocked and ask for my autograph! LOL. (it's not that serious)

These are the children that were in the show with me, I LOVED them! Look at how old Time Square was in the background, they had cigarette advertisements! ha. (I'm in the back, behind the black kid, with the bangs, how cute I was! lol)
Minskoff Theatre!

After the show ended, I continued performing, I sang the National Anthem at Yankees games, Knicks games, Shea Stadium, I flew to Florida to sing at Disney World, and I was accepted into a Performing Arts High School that was partnered with MTV!

I don't perform anymore. I don't sing anymore either (only karaoke). BUT I still dance, and I dance quite often and quite well. I have a new passion now, traveling, teaching, reading and culture. I will always cherish my time on Broadway, it was a HUGE part of my upbringing and my development! GO GO GO JOSEPH!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Why friends are important:

Malaga Feb 2nd- Feb 8th, my girls
It is SO important for my sanity to have good friends, friends that are funny, smart (not necessarily university smart, but just common sense kind of smart too), have a great out-going personality, loyal, and compassionate. I have been blessed to have quite a few friends and have stayed in contact with them all, even in the most difficult of situations.

I find myself thinking so much about the role that my friends play in my life. This past week I was so happy to share my time, my house, and my city with two close friends from the US and England. We passed our days, talking, eating, going to the cinema, dancing, drinking, meeting people, I introduced them to all the new people in my life. We had laughing fits, learned together and developed our relationship. I imagine that there are many lonely people in the world, so many that they should have a way to connect to each other to relieve their loneliness. We are social beings, I am a social being, I need people around me, not all the time, but it's nice to know they are there when I need them and vice versa. (I'll post more friendship blogs soon, with different special friends)
Traveling with people and experiencing new things together is one of the strongest ways to bond with someone. New experiences are so easy to find and traveling is such a foreign act for most people that when you do it with someone, you build an unbreakable, bond-- forever. (especially when you share an experience like this: breaking into a bull fighting ring in the middle of the day during off season and since there's no actual bullfighting action, you and your friends reenact a bullfight, only this time a person pretends to be a bull-- ok, got off on a tangent there-- FYI, it wasn't me!)
One of my friends that came to visit taught me about the booze blues, lol. She said that we get it the day after drinking. We start to think about our life and how we can change it for the better. Maybe that's what I have today, the booze blues, cause I'm contemplating a lot, not necessarily in a bad way, but just thinking.

Here are some pictures and a video of my friends' visit to Malaga and our happy memories that can never be taken away from us. Did I mention that I have the most BEAUTIFUL friends in the world, they are so GORGEOUS (and also successful, smart, nice, fun, and stylish)!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Guess who is the happiest girl in the world this week?

ME!
My girls are coming to visit TOMORROW! Shannon from Texas & Isabel from England! We all studied together at Queens University in Belfast, Shannon was getting a Masters Degree in Irish Studies & Isabel was getting a Masters Degree in Comparative Ethnic Conflict and International Politics, WITH ME! Isabel and I lived together (along with another guy our age and my boyfriend of the time), she is the best room mate ever, we had so much fun in that house: parties, good food, workout sessions in the backyard, crazy banister surfing fun, all of us created a band out of the small instruments I brought back from my African trip (drums, xylophones, cha-cha's, lol) and whenever we had guests, especially when we were drinking, they would be guest band members! YOU NAME IT WE DID IT!!!!! Use your imagination. Our neighbors probably HATED US! That was a fun freakin house! LOL.

And Shannon, it took us a while to REALLY fall in love. She and I had a mutual friend first that we loved, then we all started hanging out and slowly Shannon and I became best friends. She met me and my BF at the time in Spain on the beach when we were on vacation (You know I had to love her to have her join me and a boyfriend and share the hotel room with us! HA) She is the only friend I EVER IN MY LIFE cried for when I had to leave them. That day I left Ireland and said goodbye to her was PAINFUL! We saw each other again in Florida for Matt's wedding though and she was a part of my new life, she met my new boyfriend and filled her in on everything, even though we've been emailing and sending each other gifts, it was like we never left each other. I am so lucky to get to see her twice in one year even though she lives so far!

OH YEAH, after me and my ex moved out of the house, Shannon moved into my room, with Isabel and our other room mate, so we all were in love! :)

So, now we are having a reunion in Spain! I haven't been this excited in a long time, and I am a happy, easy to excite girl(not that way, well, lol, you know)! Anyway, this is going to be an amazing week.

These are some throw back pictures of our happy times! Ahhhh... life is GREAT, my friends keep me alive, I can't imagine my life without my friends, what stories would I have to tell? Who would I be able to cry to? Who can I count on to visit me when I'm in another country? Who would send gifts in the mail and happily receive mine? Who would accept my craziness and silliness, and have some of their own? Who would put up with my loud mouth when I drink? Who would I have to take fun, crazy pictures with? Who would I have to experience my life with, forever? Friends can never be replaced, not by a boyfriend, a pet or anything! OK, enough sappiness, I have to prepare for my girls! xo my loves, I love you both!




















Sunday, February 1, 2009

Granada-Land

OK, well, my first impressions of Granada blew me away (this time). It was absolutely breath taking. The city can not be described to its fullest by pictures, video, texts, or anything. You have to go and experience it yourself. That said, I'm going to describe my experience there for the last 3 days. (I know I say this a lot, but I really feel SO happy and lucky to be experiencing all of these things, Europe is such a beautiful continent full of history, small pueblos, different people, food-- ugh... I can go on forever!)

Us leaving Málaga headed to Granada!

Let's start with: SPANISH NIGHT LIFE AND FREE TAPA'S (since I got there at night on the first day)
So, it was raining and about 9 degrees C, thats like 51 degrees F. Not too bad, but not nice either. So we arrived, went to Cristina's HUGE beautiful apartment (with 5 bedrooms, and a balcony with a view of the snow capped Sierra Nevada, in the middle of the city center) got ready, and skedaddled. First we went out for tapa's and drinks. AMERICAN'S WONT BELIEVE THIS: In Granada, every time you order a drink you get a free tapa! IMAGINE THAT! For every drink you order, you get a small plate of free food! I was in heaven! The only problem for me was that the only vegetarian plates are usually white (potatoes, cheese, fried stuff--unhealthy) BUT I love fried foods, especially when I'm having drinks, it hits the spot! So we had a few drinks and had tapa's for dinner (for free). Here's an example of our free tapa's, after ordering one round of drinks:
So after an amazingly cheap, fun few hours having tapa's drinking, laughing, talking, we moved on to a place that is dear to my heart because it's part of the most beautiful culture in the world! A Cuban Place that only serves MOJITOS!! YAY! If there was a doubt that I wasn't in heaven before with the free tapa's, I KNEW that I had just entered heaven when I stepped foot into this place! AMAZING! The Mojitos were SO good and the bartenders were friendly-- they gave me a lot for free cause I told them my family is from Cuba (and I'm a girl)! Here's more pictures of us and our friends! I don't know what I was thinking, but I met this guy (they say the people from Granada are not friendly, but I didn't buy it, I can get along with anyone and have a good time!) He had a HUGE Mojito and I put my hand in his drink, I didn't even know him, and pulled out a mint leaf and then pressed it against his forehead until it stuck! LOL! I could not stop laughing and he LOVED IT! He thought it was the greatest thing that someone has ever done to him! After that, he wanted to talk and joke with me the whole night, lol. Well, later on I found out his girlfriend was there and although me and her got along really well, him and her started fighting outside when they left. :/ Hopefully it wasn't because of my silliness, lol.


So after gorgeous drinks and great company, me and my sexy girls headed out for our first night of dancing in Granada! We went to a big club with a few floors. It was nice, the only problem for me was that half the time this guy was talking my ear off and my friends left me alone with him because they thought I liked him, NO! I don't meet guys when I go out, especially when I am on vacation, what the hell am I supposed to do with them? I'm not that type of girl! He was interesting and cute anyway, so it was ok I guess, ha. It was a nice place, but like always, the smoke smell was pretty bad, but when there is music, its like I tune everything out and go with the rhythm, nothing gets me down! Soy una balerina!
The next night, we had tapa's and drinks early in the center of town, then walked to a more local spot, met some of Cristina's friends and had dinner at an Italian restaurant. Overall, Granadan Nightlife is GREAT. It's different than Malaga's because first of all, you can eat for free until like 3am, second of all, all the clubs are HUGE, you have space to dance, in Malaga, it's always packed (except the salsa clubs). I had such fun at night in Granada, TOO MUCH FUN for one person I think! Ughh... When am I ever going to be able to settle down? I cant ever give this lifestyle up!

GRANADA DURING THE DAY, CULTURE, SIGHTS, AND HISTORY:
Granada was one of the last area's in Andalusia, which had Moorish influence. It wasn't until 1492 that the Christians came in and ousted the Moors from the Kingdom of Granada. In this city, you can find beautiful buildings built centuries ago with Arabic, Roman, or Christian influence. It's stunning. Here are a few pictures and short descriptions:

An adorable walkway with hanging lights, Moorish architecture. I fell in love with this area!
Beautifully detailed and colored buildings on the main street, Gran Via. BREATH TAKING!

Looking at an amazing patio, very typical in Andalucia, I'd love love to throw a party here!
Again, amazing!
I'm standing in front of the first Arabic University in the whole world. It's a beautiful building! Now it's been turned into a government building.

Aside from all the sights, I was SUPER excited to visit an Arabic teteria (tea house), to relax, have some tea and enjoy the ambiance. We walked to a part of town with Arabic shops, teterias, and a ton of people. I bought very unique jewelry (Arabic inspired of course), one of which is a brown wooden winding bracelet which stretches almost halfway up my arm. I've NEVER seen anything like it before and I bargained the guy down REAL GOOD! :) So here we are in the adorable colorful shops before we made our way to the teterias (where there were over 100 types of tea to choose from!) I ordered the Pakistani with milk and honey, it hit the spot after hours of sightseeing in the rain!

Darkness snuck up on us unexpectedly, we were having so much fun exploring, eating, shopping, that all of a sudden it was dark! Nonetheless, we made our way to the Mirador De San Cristobal, its a viewing area where you can see the Alhambra (Arabic Palace) and the whole city. To get to the Mirador, you have to walk through the most romantic, cobblestoned streets, with beautiful houses with flowers in the windows. It reminded me of the beauty and romance of Rome, Italy when I was there, it was an amazing, beautiful and romantic places that makes you feel a way that you have never felt before, it's indescribable! Here's some pictures of the towpath bridge to get over a small stream, and some pictures along the way to the Mirador.
Anyone can fall in love in a place like this! Look at this beauty! I asked my friend to marry me as soon as I set my eyes on this place I felt so romantic! She happily and romantically accepted.
And Finally we got to the Mirador, I didn't want to leave! It was so beautiful, and I felt like I was in such a spiritual place, it was amazing. nighttime pictures are bad, but here's a picture that doesn't even scratch the surface.The next morning we seized the day and started off my having breakfast-- churros y chocolate-- with Cristina's parents in a famous, local, churros place. It was typical Spanish, and I LOVED every second of it!
Then we went to a museum se llama, Casa de los Tiros. It was interesting to see a house built in 1530, with paintings from the Royal Family. OK, I really liked it, but felt like I couldn't be all that serious! LOL.
To top it all off, as we were walking back to the piso, a marching bank came down the street! I got the goose bumps from their beautiful music. I managed to capture a short video of it. It was great. (OK, I just watched the video, it was SO much better in person, but you get the idea)



All in all, I had an amazing time. Granada is great and I had great company. I love my life and I LOVE Granada, SPAIN, MY FRIENDS, AND EVERY ONE AND EVERY THING! I'm so happy right now! xo.