The long anticipated ending to Carnaval Story, with PICTURES!!!

So, here's the climax. The part everybody's been waiting for. Get ready, for chaos.

After a grueling two hours or so of trapped body heat, sweat, warm drinks, and singing, we all finally disembarked at our location: Cadiz. So, here's what Cadiz is supposed to look like:

Aint that a pretty photo of Cadiz?

Here's what the streets of Cadiz usually look like...

And when we got there...

Good luck backing out! HAHAHA!

Oh Carnaval, we'll have to do this again sometime...

Utter chaos

So...let's try to piece some of the story together. Me, Alex, Max and Josue survived the train ride, and we met up with Mike and the two girls after getting off. Somehow, they had gotten on the same train. Well, the first thing I noticed was that everyone was peeing off to the side, then I heard the dull roar of debauchery in the distance. We had no idea what we were getting into. As it turns out, we have a blast, meet plenty of interesting people, and I get separted from the group. Failing to reunite with the group, I somehow manage to get jumped and robbed, then wander back to the train in a terrible mood.

Its about 7am. Our group is set to meet back in Sevilla at 11a or so to visit a Bullfighting ring. My phone battery is nearly dead, I am dead tired. I get on the train, and fall asleep standing up. I wake up some hours later in a train station, and suddenly realize its not the Sevilla train station. I had gotten off at the wrong station and slept! I found out that the next train wouldnt come for another 3 hours (it was actually four, but who is counting?) Its 12pm. I am in trouble. With four hours to kill, I basically wander around looking for a place to take a siesta in the sun, as I had managed to lose my cape, my hat, and my effects.

The program calls several times, and I have to explain to them my plan, again and again, that I am on my way, as soon as the train shows up, which it did, an hour late. When I finally get to Sevilla, I am running to the street to catch a taxi to the airport. I get there with an hour to spare, and nearly forget my coat. I tell everyone what happened, as several different people had devised various rumors surrounding my disappearance. My favorite was that I had supposedly murdered a hooker and fled the country.

In all, I guess I felt like a used towel, and empty pack of cigarettes, a chewed up pencil, whatever. I felt kinda like Cadiz must have felt like after we all threw ourselves about in ecstacy, sweating, drinking, kissing, fighting. Here's a few pictures of the carnage:

Incendiary devices and drunk people do not mix well

Ugh...imagine being the guy that cleans that mess up...

The next day, I am summoned to the API office and issued a written warning for the following:

- "Drinking to the point of making unwise decisions," we can all agree on that.

- "Failing to contact API to notify them of my situation," again, my fault, but here's my explanation:

I had failed to bring my phone charger, so my phone was half dead, and I did not want to use up all of the batteries. I had failed to put any API contact numbers in my phone, I only had a few numbers of the other participants in the excursion, which I used to establish contact. I had failed to get a police report...of what? I got robbed and beat on the head. I don't know where he is, but he probably won't be back, and hey! getting a police report was the first thing to cross my mind, after "make sure you're okay, get back to the train, and get some sleep!"

Well, in any case, I can honestly say I made mistakes that trip, the first of which was failing to reunite with the group in a new city. The second was wandering even further off. The third was not having the foresight to put the API numbers in my phone or bring my charger. Anyways, the deed was done, I got to have a fun chat with the program director, and got a written warning. Only I could manage to get myself in this much trouble.

So, that does it for the Sevilla story. Hopefully you learned a few lessons, and won't make quite as many mistakes as I had. Take care of yourself and have fun, but not that much fun. That's just not healthy.

Student Protests, Gran Torino, and the New Apartment

Hmmm...a lot happened since the last post, I'm gonna try and catch everyone up real quick.


First off, after vowing to go to all of my classes, even the 8:30am ones, I get up, take my ADD pill, and head to class. I get out fo the metro around 8:30 and I see a large group of people being herded and pushed and beaten by police. Ah, the student protests. You see, for as long as I've been here, the students have been demonstrating their unhappiness with the University's decision to nationalize, which basically screws over a lot of people because it detracts the value of their degree. Thus, the students have decided to use the main building of UB as their sleeping quarters, and have basically resided there for months. One night (Tuesday night, St. Paddy's Day), the police bust in there and forcibly remove the students, beating many over the head and in the torso with thier batons, which is illegal. The media, of course, gets most of this on camera, and so now we move to Wednesday morning, my first attempt to go to my 8:30 class that week.

"The student united will never be defeated"

I got to the school at about this part


More craziness...wait til I get the videos up...


Anyways, class was cancelled. People were outside yelling at all the faculty entering the school. This one student/professor? stood up and told us in English that the University was closed because the administration was a "bunch of motherfuckers." Cameramen were filming heated debates between the protestors and the professors (some of which supported the protestors) and we were standing there thinking, "wow, this is actually happening." You would never see this at UGA.

Anyways, with all but one of classes cancelled for the rest of the week, I had time off to search for new apartments and such. As it turns out, I get lucky, providence shines upon me, divine intervention occurs, whichever you prefer to believe, and I find a good place at a location for a good price (350 E per month w/utilities is pretty damn good for an apartment in Sagrada Familia). Now, I'm living with a Portuguese, a Chilean, and a ?German?, all of whom work a lot and don't really go out much or party, so that'll be good for my studies. We also get tons of channels on the TV and Miguel (Portuguese) has tons of movies on his laptop and some kick-ass speakers, so movie nights are back!!!

Speaking of movie nights, the other night I went out with Raquel (housemom) to go watch Gran Torino in English (thank God, I am so tired of watching American movies dubbed in Castillian). First off, Eastwood delivers a great performance as an old Korean War vet haunted by his past, estranged from his family, and suddenly forced to step out of his comfort zone and face the realities around him. Basically, the movie is a parable between life and death, living and dying. I was impressed by way Eastwood directed the anti-hero's journey throughout, and the pace kept me entertained throughout. I also appreciated the movie's treatment of racial relations in the US: tense at times, comical at others, and ugly. Anyways, I strongly recommend the film for Eastwood fans.

And...that's all. I'm picking up some snacks for the week. Hasta luego!

Getting Carnaval Supplies and Getting on the Train

This picks up after the bike ride in Sevilla, when we got Tapas at an outdoor restaurant with crummy service.

After tapas, we decided to make our way to the Corte Ingles, the Spanish version of Wal-Mart, to buy costumes for Carnaval. After settling on a 15 E budget, I buy a Green and Black party hat, a lei set, a pirate sword, a pirate gun, and an Irish flag for my costume. There wasn't much reasoning behind this. I just decided to buy whatever looked the most ridiculous, and my friends said that I looked like the gay Irish pirate that didn't make the cut for the Village People.

I wasn't the only ridiculous one. Alex dressed like an Indian with a Spanish flag, Mike bought a pirate hat w/wig with a Bob Marley flag, Josue got a Batman mask, an Afro, and a Hendrix flag, and Maxsim, well Max just got a pirate hat and a pirate sword. Here's what we looked like (Me, Alex, and Josue)



The POINT was to LOOK RIDICULOUS...


Anyways, we got ready at the hotel and then waited for two other API girls to get ready to travel with us. When we finally left, it was around 5 and we were all excited about going to the world's largest costume party. The girls lamented that they had no costumes, so I gave them my leis and my pirate sword. Equipped with just a ridiculous green hat, an Irish cape, and a pistol, I decided to call myself Guinness O'Shea (the other option, Captain Blackbeard O'Shea, got thrown out).


We stopped by a store to pick up supplies, and Alex and I were both lucky to choose plastic over glass or aluminum, because as we would later find out, the transportation people would only allow plastic. Not many others in our group fared so well. Anyways, we finally got to the train station and discovered to our dismay that the "free train ride with costume" promotion ended last year, so we all bought tickets to and from Cadiz.


Let me take a minute to explain the train station. (Bear in mind: it is five o'clock)

Chaos is the key word. Hundreds of people are running helter skelter shouting and screaming and singing and laughing, most already drunk. I see flocks of Dalai Lamas, several sets of Mario Twins, Rock Stars, "Germans," Cows, ???s, and more. Some are shouting over their megaphones. Others are busy knocking back the rest of their drinks. The air is vibrating with energy. I cannot imagine what Carnaval will be like if this is just the train station in Sevilla.


Anyhow, the group got split up, but Alex, Josue, Max, and I were able to get in line together. Here's a picture of the line going to Carnaval.



These weren't even the wierd people.

We finally got on the train and luckily spotted enough space for the four of us to sit on the floor. The train kept filling up more and more, and we had to readjust our positions numerous times to accomodate. Within several minutes, the train doors closed, the air heated up from the lack of ventilation and all of the human bodies so close together, and crammed like sardines, we rolled off into the sunset headed for Carnaval.

Soy un Pasota, According to My House Sister

I never thought the human language would have a word that would pretty much describe my attitude towards intimate relationships (e.g. girlfriends), but apparently, the Spaniards do. Let us not forget that this is the culture that gave rise to literary works like Don Quixote and Don Juan (El Burlador de Sevilla) which parodied the romantic culture of the times. I'd especially like to focus on Don Juan though, because, given enough devotion and immersion in a lifestyle like his, I could probably be a lot like Don Juan.

Anyways, my house sister Marina and I were talking about how I had failed to compliment her new haircut (as had her boyfriend, for about one hour). Somehow or another, the conversation led to my defense that I had very little practice for recognizing a new haircut or new shoes or something because I generally never have girlfriends. Marina cracked a joke about this, something along the lines of, "yeah, when's the last time you called any of your girlfriends?" (honest response: a few weeks, but they still call me for some reason) After my nonplussed response, she said, "Es que eres pasota!" Reading my confused face, she went on to ask if I even knew what that meant, and I told her I had never heard that word.

We looked up the word on two sources: a Spanish-American dictionary and wordreference.com (a great website for writing Spanish/French/whatever papers). Here's the Spanish-American dictionary definition: "waster, non-conformist." I thought that was a bit odd, but what made me laugh my ass off was this definition, given by wordreference.com: "ese tio es un pasota - that guy couldn't give a damn about anything." I had to laugh, because in the context of maintaining intimate relationships, I generally fail due to indifference or hyper-attention (kind of a poorly-adjusted over-reaction to combat indifference). Its true, when it comes to relationships, I generally don't give a damn. The only exceptions are the really challenging ones, where I have to win over her attention somehow. Hence, I go for girls I can't get, and therefore lack interest in 99% of girls who actually would be willing to have a relationship with me.

I don't necessarily see this as a huge problem, although Mom would rather me settle down already so I can find a nice woman and have a family and a mortgage and all that fun stuff. In fact, I generally like the freedom that comes with NOT having a girlfriend. I cannot tell you how many times I walked into my home the past two years to a "Cold War" or to a "house-rattling fight," complete with yelling, screaming, crying, and the occassional dramatic measure to cement "victory" for one side or the other.

I generally laugh at these things. First, I am amused by how each side decides to take the fight, both choosing the victim side and both arguing that the other just doesn't understand. Second, the dramatics are the makings of reality TV: driving off at full speed, tires squalling, or breaking up one night to get back together the next morning, this could be VH1 material. Third, I am reminded of how lucky am that I don't have to deal with this. Fights over HONESTLY NOTHING with my last girlfriend have reminded me that I don't need to be in a relationship for the sake of having one. I honestly just don't need it.

To wrap it all up, when it comes to relationships, I'm a pasota, the guy who "couldn't give a damn about anything," but instead of being dismayed by this, I just have to laugh. I hope you did too.

Noche alegre en Sevilla y bike ride

Alright, this is the VERY last blog I'm writing today. First off, I gotta write something about my night out in Sevilla.

I awoke about 3 hours after I was supposed to wake up (for the siesta) to a bunch of drunk guys outside singing very poorly. I woke up, took a shower, then walked outside the hotel room to see if I could find anyone to hang out with. As it happened, one of my API friends invited me to hang out with her and her friends, since Alex and the guys had long since left the hotel.

I go to their room and theres about six or seven API people (all girls) tellin me about how a large group of drunk soccer fans serenaded them and mooned them. We then all decided to head to this OLD bar (like three or four hundred years old) where Miguel Cervantes used to hang out. There were legs of pigs hanging from the ceiling and a medley of drink lining the walls. I got a tapa and a beer (Cruzcampo is about the only beer you can get in Sevilla). After the old bar, we went off in search of another bar because all the girls wanted to take shots. We finally agreed on this really small bar a few blocks away, and the bartender was happy to teach us malapalabras and other dirty phrases. I also learned how to drink with a Russian (which is very fun, and you might wanna try it sometime). Basically, you toast to each other, then cross arms and drink, then kiss on the lips. Very fun shot.

Afterwards we finally all got back to bed, although I stayed up and continued talking to a few people before one of the girls and I went out again. We had a great time complaining about how bad Spanish vodka is and trying to find our way back. We apparently had a better night than a few other API people, who got their camera broken, lost 20 E trying to get it back, and then one guy out of the group got punched in the face a few times.

The next day, we all got our free breakfast then went on the bike ride. I have to say, I was half and half about going back to the hotel and sleeping some more or going on the bike ride...so glad I went on the bike ride. I don't have all the pictures yet, but here are a few.

Look! Its a replica of Nao Victoria! Wouldnt that be a crappy ride across the Indian Ocean?

For some odd reason, some trashcans in Sevilla are domes with artwork on them.

Here are some photos of a palace we rode to in Sevilla. George Lucas used this palace as inspiration for his Star Wars movies (probably episodes 1-3).

You can't tell from here, but the sides are lines with pictures of all the cities and towns.

Anyways, after the bike ride, we got some tapas before getting supplies for Carnaval. That story WILL have to wait until tomorrow, because I gotta go to my History class (which isnt that interesting actually, oh well). Anyhow, more pics and stories to come, hasta luego

Sevilla pt 2

And I told you this one would come real soon. I literally got tired of formatting and reformatting the damn blog so it would flow after I added pictures (which, for whatever reason, screws up the formatting of everything). I just had a nice break from writing, during which I thought about the guitar I'm getting real soon!!!

Anyways, back to Sevilla...

After Alcazar Real, we went to Sevilla Catedral, also known as Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See). Basically, the fourth largest Christian cathedral in the world, and crazy intricate design everywhere. The catedral holds the remains of Christopher Colombus and has an altar made of pure gold where only three marriages may take place per year (and only the super rich, wealthy families get to do this). There's also some cool arches and pictures and loot in the castle. If I were an awesome thief, I would totally plan a heist there.

Here's a bunch of pics of the Catedral:

The catedral from the street

Look at that MASSIVE door!!!

Here's what remains of Colombus

Here's that altar made of solid gold...sick

Take a look at that LOOT!!!

PURE GOLD and SILVER!!!

Anyhow, after walking around the Cathedral with Alex (one of my API friends), we got separated from the tour group, so we just decided to climb up the tower (Giralda). The view from up top was amazing!!! It was about 30 something stories, and really freakin high! Along the way you could look in these little rooms at pieces of bell tower machinery or whatnot, as well as take a peek along the various windows. We couldnt get to the very top, but as high as they allow tourists (I did see one lady attempt to pick the lock so she could climb higher). Here's some pics:

Look at that view.

The bells on the bell tower.

After spending about half an hour just taking in the view, Alex and I decided to head back to the hotel, just as our tour group was making its way up the stairs. We got back, and I decided to siesta while Alex left to hang out with his buddy who lived in Sevilla. I ended up oversleeping and didnt get to hang out with the guys that night, instead I hung out with about 6 girls from API. That, is a story for another day. Anyhow, might write one more today before class, pero a ver, no? Pues, voy a pasear en la calle para encontrar una tienda de dulces y caramelos (tengo un poco de tos). Hasta luego!

Sevilla pt 1

Alright, here's the long anticipated beginning to a series of blogs at least three parts deep.

We arrived in Sevilla about in time for lunch. So after dropping off a few things for the hotel, we went straight to Alcazares Reales de Sevilla, a Moorish castle built by the Almohades hundreds of years ago. We saw a miniature model of the Nao Victoria, one of five ships Magellan commanded in his attempt to find access to the spice entrepots in Asia. Incidentally, Magellan (Portuguese) approached King Charles V (Spain) with this plan after the Portuguese crown rejected his plan. Also, Magellan did not circumnavigate the world, he died in the Philippines trying to Christianize and make allies with the peoples.

Anyways, enough of the history lesson, the ship looked really small and now I can imagine how crappy that voyage must have been. Later we visited Patio de las Doncellas (possibly called such because the Moorish Kings allegedly asked for 100 virigins every years from the Christians) which featured this long, shallow pool with goldfish and cool designs on the walls. Here are some pictures:




Next we saw the gardens, which had trees from all around the world, including this 350 year old tree that looked ugly as sin but was still somehow living. The garden featured a neat little shrubbery maze as well. Oh, and there were orange trees everywhere. Here's some pics.




Next, we saw a huge fountain which somehow circulated water from this pipe on top of the castle, this gave the fountain a somewhat water-fall effect.


You can kinda see the water to the right of that center column.


Here's a pic of the entire gardens from up top:




Alright, so that's all of Real Alcazar. This blog literally took me about half an hour to write, so I hope you all appreciated it. Next one will be real soon, I promise.