I missed EARTH-HOUR yesterday

I was out with my girlfriends B-S-ing, eating chocolate donuts and drinking coffee at Dunkin Coffee on Calle Granada. And to make it worse, we drank from paper cups!

If I shut off all my lights now for an hour can I make up for it? Or, maybe I won't use the elevator tomorrow and take the stairs to get to my apartment? OR, I KNOW, I can rollerblade to work instead of taking the car!

Better yet, I'll just applaud everyone that participated, you all are better people than I am!

In GREEN solidarity-
Chris

Un "tour" de mi Spanish casa, por fin!

FINALLY!! I had time today to create a virtual tour of my piso. For all the stalkers out there, please don't show up at my house, thanks. (When I lived in Ireland, I had a myspace stalker that showed up at my house one day, luckily I was living with the American Diplomats and we had security-- Also, when I lived in Brooklyn, a guy I dated broke into my house at night and slept in my bath tub and waited for me to wake up the next morning so he could talk to me, luckily I slept at my dad's house that night so my mom and her boyfriend found him the next morning (they knew him)--so I don't say all this to be funny, it's real). Anyway, my address isn't on here, ha.

I use my blog to connect with all my people back home, but also as a time capsule of my life.

aquí está:

Back to Spain 2009/10?

My boss took me aside last week and asked me if I wanted to return next year-- renew my contract for another academic year and work in the schools with the children. She said all the kids love me, the teachers are all happy to work with me, and I have a natural ability to communicate effectively. I was flattered and happy that they want me to come back and work for them, especially in this economic climate! She told me if I did come back, I can pick any area in Spain that I want to live and then they will find schools for me to work in, including the Canary Islands-- a chain of island resorts on the western Coast off Africa.

I think if I accept the renewal, I will probably go there (to the left is a pic of Playa Papagayo-- gorgeous), to be on the beach, near the equator, with warm weather all year long, only two seasons... that would be great: sandy white beaches, warm water, natural mountains, community vibes. The only problem would be that I would be isolated from Europe, so I wouldn't be able to travel around as easily. But that's okay I think, I've already been all around Europe, now maybe I can see a bit more of Africa since I would be neighbors with the continent! (At this point I know I will be happy in which ever school I am in, so I am moving on to the area-- climate, people, beauty, uniqueness-- when will I ever get to live on a tropical island in Europe again?)

I'm not sure yet though. I'll have to see. If I do decide to come back, when I'm in NYC, I'm going to scoop someone up to come and live there with me. ;) We'll see though...

Oh, decisions, decisions... for now, I know that I will definitely be back in NYC at the end of May and will be working a great job over the summer. The rest is still unwritten. I'll write more when I know for sure. I have to decide by April 15th. The clocks a tickin!

I made it...

Yesterday:

I ran 15 miles,

alone,

up steep hills,

along the beach,

through the center of town.

I made it.

If there was any doubt that I wasn't ready for the marathon, the thoughts have vanished along with my food poisoning.

Today:

No soreness, only

pride,

accomplishment.

it's crazy how the mind works...

I went out for a long run today, about 16 miles, 8 miles out and returned for another 8 miles, at least that was the plan.

I started out strong, in my mind I was thinking, I can do this, without a doubt, I'm super ready for the marathon! TODAY will prove that! before my 7th mile I felt happy, strong and confident, but then I started feeling sick, with pains in my stomach and feeling nauseous. I had to stop in a bathroom and I threw up, unexpectedly. Ugh. I drank some water, left the rest room and continued running, I felt okay at first, then when I reached my 8-mile-mark, I felt sick again, and got sick again. HORRIBLE. I was shaking, couldn't even walk, let alone run back the 8 miles to my house.

I sat on the beach, the sun shining down hard on me, making me feel weaker, it must have been about 75 degrees, more for me cause I've been running. I got up to see if I felt better, I started walking and then ran a bit, PAIN PAIN PAIN started again. I stopped in another bathroom.

I finally realized I wouldn't be able to make the trip home alone. But without any money and without my cell phone, I had no choice. I walked and walked. I had to stop every 5 minutes and sit down. My mouth was dry and my whole body was shaking at this point. I thought about asking someone to call an ambulance, but I thought, nah, I am not THAT bad.

So I continued on in this way for another 30 minutes, but I had only walked one mile; I had another 7 miles to go.

I decided to ask the bus driver if I can get on the bus for free, "estoy malo y no tengo dinero, ¿puedo coger el autobús gratis?" NO he said! I almost started crying and got off the bus and he closed the doors. Two seconds later he opened the doors again, "¿Donde vas?", "el centro" I said. He gave me a head nod and I got on. Phewww...

I got home and couldn't even move, I looked up my symptoms on line: Food Poisoning (I went out for breakfast with a friend this morning, cheese, bread and a cafe con leche, hmm... must have been the dairy)!

I read all about it, what I needed to do to get better quicker, all the foods I needed to eat: bland food, bread, white rice, boiled carrots. THEN I saw the foods to stay away from: COOKIES were on the list. Cookies were on every list that I researched.

Now this is very strange: I hardly EVER eat cookies, only when someone offers me one or two, maybe once every 6 months or something. I don't really like them...

BUT as soon as I found out that I COULDN'T eat them, I started craving them. I tried to brush it off. I cooked rice and carrots with a little extra virgin olive oil and salt for lunch. Later, I had white Italian bread with tomatoes and an orange. BUT I still couldn't get the cookies out of my head!

So, sick and all, already in my PJ's at 4pm, I got dressed, went out and bought a pack of cookies!

I started eating them even before I paid for them. I ate them on the walk home, and I continued to eat them when I arrived home. Now, here I am, I have about 10 cookies left, I must have eaten 20 of them. They are right next to me. I am looking at them as I type.

I have a stomach ache.

I feel worse than I did all day.

It's crazy how the mind works, when you are told you can't eat something immediately your mind becomes fixated on it. All I could think about were those damn cookies and I didn't even LIKE them! I don't like sweets (I'm more of a potato chip and green olive girl, lol).

That's why all those diets don't work. People can't loose weight cause they are told what NOT to eat! No one likes being told what to do!

Anyway, for now, I'll just drink lots of water and continue to eat fruits and unflavored veggies, hopefully by tomorrow I will feel better and attempt my 15 mile run again!

Ugh, what a day and what an eye-opening experience!

Portugal: Our story

I was blown away.







As soon as I stepped foot out of the station, I felt like I was in a different world.

The buildings were so gorgeous in an antique sort of way. The facade of the buildings were worn down by the neighboring Atlantic oceans humidity but the delicate pastel colors kept their territory.

As we walked farther into the center of town to find our accommodation, I continued to get goose bumps from the charm this city provided me.

Working electric trolleys (you can see the ocean in the back).









Gorgeous patterned sidewalks.









Stoned streets.









Hills with colorful houses sitting around them.









All with the HUGE Atlantic Ocean surrounding it.









Uhhhh... just thinking about it makes me smile to myself.

Then we arrived at our new home for the next few days, the 8th floor of an old building in the center of town. When we saw that we had a balcony, we got so excited, we opened it up and were wowed yet again by what we saw. To the left a castle on a hill, straight ahead the Atlantic Ocean, to the right, another hill with colorful houses sitting on it, and straight down, the CENTER SQUARE! What a sight! We never wanted to leave the room it was so gorgeous, but of course we had to start exploring the city, so out we went.

Then it started, all the misunderstandings...

It started with dinner in an area called "the restaurant", ha. We were walking down the most darling street and this PR guy for one of the restaurants came up to us and asked if we wanted to see the menu, Sure, we said. Nothing Vegetarian, so we attempted to move on. THEN he offered me a plate full of veggies, fresh cheese, bread, rice, and beans for 4,75 Euros, I was like, TOMA! So we ate there, then when the bill came, it was SO MUCH more than what he offered it to me for. I told them and they tried to change the story around about what he said "oh, that was for an appetizer, not a main course", BS I said, and didn't pay shizzit and we started arguing in the outdoor seating section of the restaurant! He called me stupid, and I said, your face is stupid, lol. VERY CLASSY and mature, I know, lol. I left without paying the full price, too bad for them for trying to screw me over.

Despite that, me & Mel left there running and laughing the whole time! It was hilarious! It was one of those "you gotta be there" moments.

There were a series of misunderstandings that followed between us and "Portugal":

2)Because Portugal is so close to Spain, we would have never thought that we would be in a different time zone, but low and behold, we found out our second day there. We woke up at 9am, and headed out for coffee. We were wondering where everyone was, Ok, it was Saturday, but come on, there was no one out, until we sat down for breakfast and saw the clock on the wall! ONE HOUR BEHIND! Sucked for us, we could have slept longer, or stayed out later the night before! lol.

3) We bought a million post cards to send to people, then found out the post offices would be closed for the next 4 days (holidays) but a nice lady pointed us to an outdoor postage machine, what an invention! We were super excited that we didn't have to wait to send the postcards, so we excitedly popped our money in the machine, pushed the button, and nothing... then we did it again, and again, and still nothing. The machine was either out of stamps or swallowed our money! Bastard machine!
4) We went to a supermarket, it was so tiny and there were so many people in it, it was crazy. All we wanted were some cookies and wine... anyway, they had all the bottles of liquor right in the front where all the people traffic was, Mel walked by and knocked over tons of liquor with her bag. Everyone was looking at us, and there was alcohol all over the floor! This was also hilarious, cause two minutes later another girl did the same thing, only on the other side! lol.
5) Our last morning there, we woke up with a slight hang over. So we decided to head out for some coffee, right downstairs from our house, no stress, no walking, just relaxing outside in the sun in a cute little cafe. Well, we asked the guy for a coffee and a glass of water (to hydrate ourselves) and he brought us a glass of coffee, this thing was huge! I was laughing so hard I almost peed. People must have been looking at us like, damn! lol.
6) The coffee didn't hit the hangover spot, so we decided to move to the next place over and get a beer to take the headache and tiredness away (I know, I know, it's horrible, but I don't do this all the time). So we ordered a beer and this HUGE beer came out! In Spain the beer comes in a small cup, so we thought, no problem, ya know. We drank the whole thing and were hungry for more, so we got another, then we ordered a HUGE plate of fries, then more beer, then I started painting my nails (again, very unclassy of me). Pretty soon we looked at the time and we had 20 minutes until our bus was to leave back to Spain, We spent over 2 hours there and didn't even realize it! WE got up, left whatever money on the table, ran to get our bags we left in the hotel (luckily we were less than a minute away), hopped in a cab and made it there right on time! AGAIN, hilarious!
So those were our misunderstandings with Portugal, they were all super fun, interesting and unforgettable!

We had a lot of fun times. We walked all around the city, we ate Indian food (which I haven't had since NYC this past December, I've been craving it), Portuguese coffee and desserts, which were all amazing! YUM! We rode on the oldest elevator in the world! Yes, that's right, this elevator is the oldest working elevator! It was pretty crazy! At night I met a wonderful guy who showered me with attention. We spoke all night, he paid for everything, he invited me to dinner the next day, it was perfect! Then I found out he was 21 years old! ughhh... Whats up with these young guys going after me? geezzz... We'll here's a few pictures of all this.

The night I met my youngin:

haha, tired as crap by the end of the night!
Typical Portuguese streets:


The oldest elevator in the world (made by the same guy that made the Eiffel Tower, parece que, ¿no?):
Us rockin out in the room, ha:
Portugal made my top 5 European cities list. I hope to head back soon. Besos Portugal!

Our time in Extremadura

I spent most of my 12 day vacation in Extremadura, a region of Spain which has the most natural parks in all the country-- it also boarders Portugal. My friend lives here, and we spent a few days visiting small towns of 500 people or less, farms, castles, running over small hills, going to dinner parties and eating traditional food from Extremadura, which includes Migas, fried old bread with Garlic, Gazpacho, cold tomato soup, and drinking home made wine. It was great, and a NICE break from the city rush.

We started out in Villalba, a small Pueblo where everyone is a farmer, the main town square is smaller than half a NYC block, All the people know everyone and leave their doors open. This village is also known for it's wine. It won the prize for the #1 wine in the world this year in NYC!

We spent two nights here in a friend of my friends house. Their backyard had a well where they get their water. Me, coming from a big city, I was surprised that people still rely on well water; it was so interesting for me to see.
We drove around, occasionally stopping our car to pick flowers or taste a fruit from a tree that was growing on the side of a road. I'm not too much of a nature girl, so it took me a while to get used to this whole picking shit from the earth thing, lol. That was a joke, but for real...


We drove and drove until we made it to another village called Feria, this one was even smaller than the first and on the top of the hill was a castle. We drove up and up and up passed by donkeys in the street, ha, and then we finally reached it, the castle. Luckily it was a beautiful day, so the view was gorgeous. I felt like I was looking out the window of an airplane.



We spent the rest of the afternoon, going to all of the four bars in Feria and tasting different types of local wine, and whatever else was made locally, like a bag of chips that someone bought for us to welcome us to the village.
The next day was a big day in Villalba. It was the day before ash Wednesday, and in this village, they celebrate the beginning of Lent by having a funeral, FOR SARDINES! Yes, you heard me correctly, SARDINES! The whole town gets dressed in Black (LIKE TRADITIONAL BLACK, I had to borrow a jacket and hat from a neighbor, ha) and they march through the street mourning the Sardines that are about to be killed because people give up meat for 40 days and eat more fish! After the marching, everyone meets in the town hall and eats Sardines and drinks wine for free! I met everyone in the village that night and the Mayor of the town heard Americans were there and celebrated the first foreign visitors (us) by bringing us a present, free bottles of wine, aged, from the town! It was very sweet, later we took a picture with him to hang in the town hall. It was a very interesting, unique experience for me.
Diggin for... sardines, ha.
poor poor sardines.
The mayor and us :)
It was an interesting time that we had there. We were the last ones to leave after too much local sweet wine. We passed out right after that and the next day headed to Mel's town, Jerez de los Caballeros! YAY! Jerez is bigger than the other villages we visited, but it was still the country. We ran together everyday through farms, passing by pigs, sheep, horses and donkeys. The bugs were runnin deep too, ha. I spent most of my time relaxing, running, walking around exploring, and eating at neighbors houses.

I had a lot of time to beautify myself, AND a lot of space, haha.We went to mass on Ash Wednesday. We were a bit impatient to wait out the whole mass, so we left and went across the road to get a coffee, by the time we got back, the mass was over, whooops, we were yapping too long. We found out later from the priest (who is a friend of my friends and went out drinking with us, lol) that the mass was only for children anyway. I always knew that organized religion wasn't for me, this proved it. I'll stick to my spirituality. The church was gorgeous though.Dinner and drinks that night with new friends and the priest.After a few days in Extremadura, we hopped on a bus to Portugal, a Portugesse blog to come...

Carnavales en Espana

Carnavals in Spain:

We decided to SKIP over Malaga's Carnaval and instead head to Cadiz, which is world famous for it's performances, amount of visitors and history (they continued the Carnaval even though Franco, Spain's former dictator, banned it).

We found a place to stay in nearby Jerez de la Frontera, hopped on the express train for 5 hours and got to Jerez. My other friend met us there and we started the long transformation into 50's ladies!


By the time we got there, we missed a lot of the action, lol. BUT we weren't about to let that stop us from having fun!
We were standing and shootin the shit when a guy comes up to me and says that he drew my portrait, I was like, what the hell? En serio? So I went over to see what he was talking about... He drew me from the back, my thigh highs with a freakin thong on, bare backed too! I was like, all you drew were my legs, and Elisa (my roomie) told me, that's what men see when they see girls... I thought it was disgusting, BUT I have a soft spot for artists, especially if they share their art with me :) My friends thought it was funny and flattering and started snapping a million pics!!!
I thought I'd return the favor and draw a picture of him... my drawing skills aren't as developed as his were though, haha.
Anyway, we said our goodbyes and kept moving, onto something even WORSE! A drunk guy stole my clutch and I didn't even notice, THEN a beautiful man, my hero, comes over and asks if I had a red bag, my friend Mel, ran over with him and my hero asked me what I had in it, I said money and my cell. He shook the guy up, screaming at him, "give me all her things", so little-by-little the drunk guy took all my shit out of his pockets and I got everything back! The guy got so mad that he started throwing bottles at the crowd, like hard, the cops came and all they asked me was if they could put it on the news, I was like, ok, I don't care, ha. OK, this was the second time the cops came for something involving me in Spain, I notice a pattern forming...

So I had a Carnaval hero, I thanked him over and over again, he was so nice and brave! I fell in love!

After that we spent a few more hours around, meeting people and walking, then headed back to Jerez. The next day me & Mel did it all over again in Badajoz, a city in Extremadura! WE FINALLY FOUND THE CARNAVAL THIS TIME, IT WAS A REAL SPANISH CARNAVAL! Drums, huge costumes, tons of people, music in the street, vendors, all night and all day parties, fun fun fun! AND no problems like in Cadiz! ha. PLUS our costumes were a lil more elaborate this time!
So that was it, Carnaval 2009, we did it and had a better time then all the people that only were able to make it to Cadiz! bloop bloop!

me voy a tranducir esta luego y escribir mas sobre mi semana viajando.